JERZEGO GIEDROYCIA „WOŁANIE NA PUSZCZY

I am analyzing the Editor and Juliusz Mieroszewski’s ‘Eastern politics’ included in their prescription: ‘normalization of relationships with Russia and looking after the independence of Ukraine, the Baltic countries and Belarus, as partners, in the first place’. Mieroszewski defined the concept of Eastern ‘Culture’ politics with an acronym ULB (Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus). The idea was simple and rational – as long as Polish and Russian imperialism is in a conflict about Ukrainian, Lithuanian and Belarusian territories, there will be no chance for consensus and safety. Independence and sovereignty of those states is the only way out. Unlike numerous contemporary Polish politicians, ‘experts’ and publicists, Giedroyc and Mieroszewski have realized how scarce is our knowledge is about the negative way we are viewed by the Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Belarusian and Russian, and that “it is impossible to understand Russian politics without understanding how the Russian interpret history [...], the ‘us or them’ mentality must expire not only among the Russian but also among the Poles”. Why don’t we stop claiming that God, Law, History, Europe, America are on our side, as they are not, which has been easily proved by the Group of Eight meeting in Petersburg and Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Russia and America will remain reliable partners. Let us support the ULB sovereignty, but let us respect Russian issues in these countries and let us talk to the Russian so that they stop seeing us as feuding political rivals, since we are not supposed to be rivals on the ULB territories.