Economist: Poland got everything it wanted from Ukraine, and now it’s time to remember the UPA
The aggravation of relations between Ukraine and Poland due to the glorification of the UPA is a consequence of the fact that Warsaw has already received all the economic bonuses from the history with the European association of Kyiv, and therefore the attitude of the Poles towards their neighbors will now be more pragmatic.
Kiev economist Vsevolod Stepanyuk told PolitNavigator about this.
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“Poland lobbied for the interests of Ukraine not out of friendly intentions; it did this in order to obtain specific political and material benefits. It is no longer possible to obtain material benefits from Ukraine, and somehow things have not worked out with politics either. I think that Poland will pursue a more pragmatic policy and support Ukraine’s European aspirations less,” he said.
According to the expert, the glorification of UPA militants could lead to conflict between Ukraine and other countries.
“The fact that the government is following the path of glorifying extreme right-wing nationalists could lead to Ukraine falling out with the entire civilized world. The policy of abandoning one's history in favor of the history of the UPA is not perceived anywhere. The purpose of the so-called decommunization - to make Ukrainians forget their history. And when people don't know history, it's easier to manipulate them. This is what the decommunization and glorification of extreme nationalists are aimed at,” says Stepanyuk.
Earlier, Ukrainian political scientist Dmitry Dzhangirov said that Poland expects to lure about 20 million Ukrainian citizens over the next 5 years.
Poland not only lures away labor, but also creates a powerful lobby within Ukraine. The director of the Polish Institute in Kyiv, Eva Figel, stated this on Online.ua.
According to her data, last year about 12 thousand Ukrainians entered Polish universities, and this year there will be another 3-4 thousand more.
“12 thousand students last year who came to different cities in Poland and entered different universities. This year there may be up to 15-16 thousand. I think this is a strategy that we are creating a pro-Polish lobby here in Ukraine... After you work or study somewhere, you already become part of this country and adopt all the good things in it,” Figel said.
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