Ukraine is playing with the superpowers against Poland’s present conservative government, writes political scientist Dr. Przemysław Żurawski vel Grajewski.
First of all, there was the totally disproportionate reaction to the Polish foreign ministry’s comments in a media program that called for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to apologize to Poland for the Volhynia massacre. That was followed by the head of the Ukrainian Institute for National Remembrance claiming Ukraine would not resume the exhumations of Polish victims of the Volhynia massacre until Poland restored monuments on Polish territory to the Ukrainian liberation army.
Next came the simmering dispute over the embargo on Ukrainian grain in which the European Commission has adopted a passive stance. It was ultimately Poland who, on behalf of Ukraine’s five neighboring states, took action, which the Commission in the end reluctantly allowed, though only until mid-September.
Ukraine took an aggressive stance, accusing Poland of trying to stop the transit of Ukrainian grain and falsely accusing Poland of being in violation of WTO rules. It made no attempt to show any understanding of the plight of Polish farmers.