"Poland is the ideal target" - Polish expert on Russian-Polish relations
In its relations with the West, Russia has assigned Poland the role of an "ideal political target," despite the fact that Warsaw does not pursue an imperial policy, it does not attack its neighbors, does not use force or blackmail. This is the conclusion reached by the Polish political scientist Pavel Koval in his article for the publication Dziennik.
According to the doctrine of the 20th century Polish publicist Jerzy Giedroyc, in order to preserve its independence, Poland needs to have the right relations with its partners in the East - it needs strong, independent states separating it from Russia. Thus, according to Koval, while Russia considers itself an empire and pursues an appropriate policy, Warsaw simply needs to have “free” Ukraine and Belarus next to it.
(...) Poland's desire to have a free Belarus or Ukraine next to it is mainly due to the fact that it is afraid of sharing its entire eastern border with Russia, whose appetite for new conquests or expanding its sphere of influence will only grow
- said the political scientist, adding that Russia can view Poland's policy as a threat, although Poland does not pursue an imperial policy, does not attack its neighbors, does not use force, does not blackmail.
In turn, Russia views all projects of political integration of neighboring countries to the west as a threat to its independence, while this, according to Koval, is "complete nonsense."
At the same time, he emphasizes that it is unrealistic to come to an agreement with Russia, because Poland is not an equal partner. In addition, Moscow makes Warsaw responsible for Russia's failure to improve relations with the EU or the West in general.
Simply put, Russia needs a scapegoat, and Poland, being a fairly large country with difficult historical relations with Russia, acts as an ideal target. Therefore, while Russia is trying to put pressure on its neighbors, we can say that Gedroyc was right
- he said.
According to the political scientist, the collective West does not threaten Russia with anything, offering it various forms of cooperation, despite Russia's policy in Ukraine and the war in Georgia. And the increased activity of the Americans in these countries is designed to strengthen democracy in Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus, which will ultimately increase the stability of the entire region, and therefore increase global security.
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