Pragmatism of interstate relations between Ukraine and Poland at the present stage

Abstract

The strategic partnership between Ukraine and Poland over the past decades has withstood periods of interstate tension and prosperity and has a positive prospect of further cooperation. The aim of the study is to find out the causes of misunderstandings and contradictions between Ukraine and Poland based on the analysis of Ukrainian-Polish relations during the twentieth century, to reveal the preconditions and ways to cooperation between the two countries in Europe and the world. The article shows that most of the Polish-Ukrainian conflicts were based on territorial claims to the Right Bank and Eastern Galicia, which were put forward by part of the Polish nationalist political forces on the basis of "historical law" in the late nineteenth century. Their non-recognition of the right of Ukrainians to their own statehood led to the radicalization of the Ukrainian national liberation movement in the interwar period and the armed confrontation during the Second World War. The formation of a new doctrine of Ukrainian-Polish relations took place in the circles of Polish emigrants, in particular those who grouped around the Prague edition of the magazine "Culture" led by E. Giedroyc in the postwar period. It provided for the creation of independent and democratic states - Poland and Ukraine and the formation of friendly relations between them. This doctrine was the basis of relations between Poland and Ukraine in the early 90's of the twentieth century and contributed to their transformation into strategic partners in Europe and the world.

It has been shown that over the past 30 years, Polish-Ukrainian interstate relations have been built on mutual interest in the military, economic, cultural, educational, and security spheres. Poland, integrated into the European space, contributed to the establishment of Ukraine's cooperation with European structures. In order to preserve and develop mutually beneficial pragmatic relations between Poland and Ukraine, it is necessary that the issues of the historical past of the two peoples do not become the subject of state policy. It is most appropriate to continue the earlier discussion of historians on the complex issues of the past to understand and accept the historical truth by both parties.