Poland's Foreign Policy during the Ukraine Crisis and the Future of the Eastern Partnership

Eastern Partnership (EaP) intends to export European norms and bring countries of the eastern neighborhood closer to the EU without antagonizing Russia. On the one hand, it incorporates aspects of Poland’s strategic culture, which puts emphasis on close association with counties like Ukraine and their incorporation into European political and security structures in order to limit Russian influence on the region. On the other hand, it accommodates for the preferences of member states, like Germany and France, who strongly value the strategic partnership with Russia.

The 2013/4 Ukraine crisis put the EaP to the test, when it became clear that the EU could not complete an association agreement with Ukraine, and support the anti-authoritarian movement on the Maidan without getting into conflict with Russia.

This paper looks at Poland, which initially tried to act as an enthusiastic supporter of the Maidan movement, but had to moderate its approach to act in concordance with EU members more cautions of provoking Russia. After the annexation of Crimea, Poland retreated to the background among EU countries, and focused more on bilateral relations with Ukraine. This leads a broader question whether in the light of increased Russian aggression the old logic of the EaP has failed. If so, who will be the actors with the EU shaping a new European strategy towards the eastern neighborhood, and how will the EU balance its norm-driven approach against geostrategic considerations?