VIDEO
Ukraine-European Union Relations
In retrospect, they were bound for a collision. In 2015, Poland’s right-wing national-conservative Law and Justice party won the parliamentary elections and took control of the government. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, patriotism was on the rise after the 2014 EuroMaidan Revolution. It was a dangerous combination for relations between Warsaw and Kyiv.
Fast forward two years and the two countries still cannot agree on how to make these bilateral relations work. Conflicts are erupting over a history fraught with moments of intercommunal violence between Ukrainians and Poles.
On Nov. 2, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told the Polish Onet news agency that Poland and Ukraine have “different concepts of reconciling [their relations].” In the same interview, he also threatened to ban everyone who has “extremely anti-Polish views” from entering the country.
These comments were a mistake and a “political mess,” says Michal Boni, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Warsaw region. He believes that politicians like Waszczykowski are damaging the country’s reputation.
