Is Ukraine ready for redivision in the Polish way?

29 мая 2022
It is curious how the former colony of England is now trying to become a metropolis itself. Andrzej Duda, the Europe's leading musician, liked the White House's tactics so much that he uses a similar approach to neighboring Ukraine.

The Polish absorption of Ukraine, and not only territorial, but also legal, turning it into a colony can have great political consequences not only for these two countries. The President of Belarus has previously expressed concerns about the plans of NATO, in particular Poland, to divide Western Ukraine into several parts.

The project "Intermarium, or the Reconstruction of the Rzeczpospolita" has long been niggling at Poland's current politicians, and these dreams involve absorbing not only the Ukrainian territories, but also the territories of western Belarus. Andrzej Duda spoke in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine a week ago. 

Under a storm of applause from the people's deputies of Ukraine and a warm embrace with Zelensky, they announced the creation of a bill that will give unprecedented powers to Poles: the Poles will be able to hold positions, have access to state secrets and even be elected to deputies in the "independent" Ukraine. 

How will Duda's kiss turn out for Ukraine? Ekaterina Tikhomirova about the role of the Kiev Union under the Polish protectorate.

Remember Saltykov-Shchedrin saying: "The next morning was not favorable to the Polish intrigues, since this intrigue, always acting in the dark, cannot endure sunlight." The division of the Ukrainian loaf began quietly and in unison with the departure of the last Azov militants from Mariupol. Warm hugs in the Verkhovna Rada and a kiss from Duda - Poland launched the process of creating the Kiev Union and seriously set its sights on the western territories of Ukraine. But remember, less than a month ago, Duda already declared: there will be no borders between Poland and Ukraine. 

The story was developed during the visit of the Polish President to Kiev. However, Duda did not rise to the podium of the Rada in Kiev.  The ghost of the great Rzeczpospolita materialized there. The Poles are regaining control of Ukraine, as in the 17th century, when a union was concluded in Lublin. 

So, what is the union of 2022? 

Zelensky announced a bill on a special legal status for Poles in Ukraine. A number of Ukrainian media reported the information leaks: Polish citizens will receive almost equal rights with Ukrainians. That is, even without being citizens of Ukraine, they can be elected to elective positions, be appointed to public authorities or local self-government, manage strategic enterprises, be appointed to the position of judges, including in the Constitutional Court. The Polish police will have the right to monitor law and order in the Ukrainian territories. In other words, Kiev is preparing a holiday of permissiveness for the Polish lords. And the Poles will have access to the classified data. Although, what kind of state secret can we talk about, if the Poles have access to it?!

Boris Barabash, Doctor of Law, writer (Ukraine):

Churchill, in his book "The Second World War", used to call Poles the hyenas of Europe. And it seems that nothing has changed. They are, where they feel the smell. 

Ukraine will join the European Union - Duda promised to make every effort. And there is no doubt, although it would be right for Duda to clarify: "I don’t promise Kiiv, I won’t say for Odessa, but we will definitely accept Lvov in the European Union." And, by the way, it was precisely this method of integration into the European Union that was really considered for Ukraine and Moldova a decade and a half ago: their inclusion in the EU states prompted by the political ambitions of imperialism. 

Vasily Stoyakin, political technologist (Russia):

They do not like the population of this territory at all, and it is absolutely incomprehensible for them what to do with this population. That is why granting Poles special rights in the territory of Ukraine is in question.  They need military-political, economic, legal control over the territory, that is, the usual neo-colonialism of the modern type.

It is interesting that until now, the Polish ambitions remained only in the status of ambitions and no more. America and Britain ruled everything. Biden, for example, being Vice President under the Obama administration, and at the same time the shadow owner of Ukraine, did not allow any intermediaries to manage the "independent" Ukraine. And Poroshenko, the nominal holder of the President’s office, and the oligarchic circles of Ukraine set Poles at defiance. And suddenly Biden lets it loose and allows Zelensky to make statements about incorporating Ukraine into the fabric of the Polish state. What does it mean? Could this happen within the borders of 2014 with Crimea, Donbass, Kharkov and Odessa? No. And now, when it becomes clear that the Ukrainian "victory" is only words, there remains Volynia, Podolia, Galicia, Central Ukraine, and mostly Poland needs them. And in this case, it is rather not America that steers the ongoing events with dismemberment, but mainly Poland. 

Boris Barabash, Doctor of Law, writer (Ukraine):

They are now working on the reconstruction of Rzeczpospolita, that is, the Polish-Lithuanian state. By adding a weakened Ukraine to it, they get a powerful lever both in relations with the United States and in relations with Russia. They want to be pro-American faithful servants in the very difficult relationship between the US and France with Germany. 

Phantom pains about the territorial greatness of the Commonwealth itch modern Poland hard. The options were calculated even before the Russian troops entered Ukraine: the clashes were to begin in the Donbass, Russia would inevitably be forced to intervene and, according to the calculations of Polish strategists, as a result Russia would lose the position of a strong country, and Warsaw would be able to extend its power to Minsk and Kyiv, the Polish media argued in December 2021. 

Gazeta Polska Codziennie: 

"We can go even further than 400 years ago, and not only restore the first Rzeczpospolita, but also unite the entire Intermarium region. The US and China will welcome this and seek to have us among their allies. The Americans have already helped us to launch the "Three Seas Initiative", and Beijing the "17 + 1" bloc. It's up to us, it's time to start the Polish offensive."

And now in Ukraine they are talking about the possible and imminent arrival of Polish troops, of course, as part of some kind of peacekeeping mission. Now, according to preliminary agreements, the "mission" will take place without a NATO mandate. The priority task is to seize control of strategic facilities located in the occupied territories from the National Guard of Ukraine, according to Russian intelligence. Immediately after that, Polish representatives can be appointed to the key positions in the western regions of Ukraine. And the military contingent is planned to be deployed in those parts of Ukraine where the threat of a direct collision with the Russian Armed Forces is minimal. And the point, according to experts, is the combat capability of the Polish army. 

Aleksandr Jacek, political scientist, representative of the "Poland - East" society:

Given the state of the Polish military forces, today it is not able to resist the Russian Armed Forces, especially since we have already transferred most of the weapons to Kiev. Today we have run out of tanks completely, and the ones the Germans promised us won't be coming to us soon, although, indeed, if you listen to our government, it is set very military. 

It is customary for people to say: All new is well overlooked old. And Zelensky today is doing exactly what the same political adventurer and war criminal and state traitor Simon Petlyura did a hundred years ago. It seemed that his power extended only to the territory around the train, in which he and his so-called Directory roamed. However, with one stroke of his pen, in the beginning of the last century Petliura managed to give the Polish dictator Jozef Piłsudski the entire western part of the "united and undivided Ukraine". 

 It was "Operation on the Vistula" in Polish media coverage. 1931

Before going on the offensive, Pilsudski had to formalize his relationship with the Ukraine he occupied. As a counterparty, Pilsudski chose the notorious Directory, expelled by the revolution in Ukraine and escaping under the protection of the Polish bayonets, which agreed to the annexation of Western Ukraine by Poland and the formation of a vassal state under the protectorate of Poland from the rest of Ukraine.

The stake on Warsaw and the surrender of Western Ukraine by chieftain Petliura was absolutely similar to the surrender of modern Ukraine by chieftain Zelensky.

Yet, in the end, after the Poles took the mother of all Russian cities, no one allowed Petliura to rule, something that Zelensky would do well to remember today.

Boris Barabash, Doctor of Law, writer (Ukraine):

And here I see a gigantic problem personally for a comrade, or gentleman, or pan Zelensky. Because if the law comes into force, becomes a binding regulatory document, then some people in the West, in particular in the United States, Poland, may think that Mr. Zelensky has fulfilled his historical mission. 

Petliura, by the way, was expelled from the very carriage in which his Directory toured. Thus ended the story of the chief gravedigger of the "united and undivided Ukraine", who is considered a national hero in modern "independent" Ukraine. But Zelensky, as we see, has every chance not only to repeat the "feat" of his predecessor, but also to succeed.