ARTICLE
From Intermarium to the Three Seas Initiative –
The Meanders of Poland’s Foreign Policy in Central Europe
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Publication date: 2018-03-31
Stosunki Międzynarodowe – International Relations 2018;54(1):95-115
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ABSTRACT
The article was inspired by the 100th anniversary of Poland’s independence.
It comprises a critical appraisal of Polish foreign policy in Central Europe
in terms of crucial challenges encountered en route to ensuring the country’s
independence, sovereignty, and overall security. Particular attention is paid to
the concepts originated and co-sponsored by Polish government, with a view
to developing robust regional cooperation. In the interwar period, these were
the projects originally developed by Józef Piłsudski’s political faction, focused on
setting up a federation and the Intermarium. The principal reason for their failure
was attributed to the incidence of border problems. During the Cold War period and
Poland’s membership in the Eastern Bloc, Poland as a state was effectively stripped
of any chances to pursue an active and independent foreign policy, whereas Central
Europe as a political commonwealth of nations remained merely a shell concept
throughout. After 1989, Polish government was keenly interested in developing
regional structures and enhancing regional cooperation. Central Europe re-emerged,
and so did a number of regional organisations. The Visegrad Group (V4) countries
proved of special importance to Poland. Cooperation, or an occasional lack of it, were
to a large extent determined by the aspirations of respective countries to join NATO and integrate with the European Union. Following the change of government
in 2015, the key assumptions and building blocks of Polish foreign policy were also
reformulated. Regional cooperation in Central Europe, especially within the fold
of V4 countries, has become one of the crucial objectives. Besides, the Three Seas
Initiative was launched as a brand-new political project, alas drawing directly upon
the original, interwar concept of Intermarium. These efforts were accompanied by
the government’s slogans of the need to oppose German domination in Europe.