Poland’s Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau abstained from attending the gathering of EU Foreign Ministers in Kiev on Monday, and explained that his absence was, indeed, a mark of displeasure on Poland’s part. Speaking to the broadcaster Polsat, Rau was asked to explain why he sent Deputy FM Wojciech Gerwel instead.
He said that relations between the two neighbors are “entering a period of downturn and my absence is partly an expression of this.” He explained that relations with Kiev depend on “three dimensions,” geopolitics, national interests, and domestic support, and that Poland only agrees with Ukraine on the geopolitical goal of opposing Russia.
The fact that Ukraine escalated their trade dispute, bringing Poland to the World Trade Organization, and President Zelensky’s inflammatory rhetoric launched against Poland at the recent UN General Assembly, “caused the trust of our society in the current policy of the Ukrainian government towards Poland to be shaken…. After what happened, getting back to square one will require titanic efforts.”
On Sept. 22, Zelensky had accused Poland and three other EU countries, by not submitting to Ukraine’s demands, of supporting Russia. Following up on a difficult day, the Canadian Parliament saw fit to greet Zelensky with a celebration of a veteran of the Nazi’s Waffen-SS “Galizien” division, as an example of the international unity on fighting Russia.
