The Polish-Russian consultations that took place recently in Moscow, according to diplomats, were "constructive". It was decided to expand the scope of regional and economic cooperation and resume the instruments of mutual dialogue.

What could be the new format of interaction with a neighboring country?

Over the past 2 years, the already difficult Russian-Polish relations have experienced a real political storm. After the events in Ukraine in 2014, ties with Warsaw grew colder every day. Mutual accusations were aggravated, military confrontation was escalated, political and expert contacts were reduced. There were not even regular diplomatic consultations at the level of deputy foreign ministers for about a year - the situation is not normal for neighboring countries that are not at war with each other.

The former Polish government went to the curtailment of programs even in the field of culture, science and education, which are traditionally out of politics. For example, Warsaw announced the cancellation of the cross Year of Culture Poland-Russia, scheduled for 2015. In fact, our relations with Poland are at a freezing point.

Things got to the point that the former head of the Polish Foreign Ministry, Adam Rotfeld, at the end of last December, resigned from the post of co-chairman of the Group on Difficult Issues. This commission, made up of Russian and Polish scholars and experts, has previously discussed the most difficult issues in common history. The group did the almost impossible - a line was drawn under the list of mutual grievances. Many mind-boggling questions - from Katyn to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - have been moved out of the political field into the historical field.

However, the experienced diplomat Rotfeld motivated his resonant decision by the fact that he could not do anything positive in the current situation.

I believe that the demarche of the recognized guru of Polish diplomacy had an effect. The new head of the Foreign Ministry, Witold Waszczykowski, announced changes in relations with Russia. “In the third month of the new government, we decided that we need to start a conversation with our neighbor,” he said. An experienced diplomat was sent to Moscow - Deputy Head of the Polish Foreign Ministry Marek Ziulkowski.

After a four-hour meeting with Russian colleague Vladimir Titov, the parties managed to do the main thing - to compile a catalog of issues that unite us and to isolate the dividing problems. There is a chance that mutually beneficial areas of regional, cross-border and economic cooperation will not become hostages of propaganda and political conjuncture.

Thus, on January 22, Moscow took the first but very important step away from hatred towards good neighborliness.

We have approached the foreign policy threshold - the negative agenda seemed to be exhausted, and attempts were made to resolve the remaining problems in a constructive manner.

Let's face it, the "roadmap" for a positive dialogue between Moscow and Warsaw has not yet been worked out, we just have to draw it up together. Polish-Russian reconciliation will be a long-term process, but it can be carried out on several planes at once - political, economic and social. And if inevitable negotiation problems await us in politics - from the deployment of missile defense facilities to the NATO summit in Warsaw, then the social component becomes all the more important.

The head of the Polish Foreign Ministry has already turned to the Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi with a request to resume the “dialogue group” with Russia. Previously, Master Zanussi was co-chairman of the Polish-Russian Civil Forum, which was attended by politicians, political scientists, representatives of the cultural environment from Poland and Russia. As it became known, the resumption of the forum meetings will take place in late winter - early spring this year in Russia. This is a very true and timely step towards restoring intellectual ties between our countries.

The main thing here is not to reduce the public dialogue to its imitation in the form of formal gatherings of Polish artists with advanced Russian workers. It is important to separately provide a field for frank discussions of experts who are called upon to find extraordinary solutions for politicians to difficult issues. It's time to stop looking at each other through the slit of the sight - otherwise we will never get out of the trench of enmity that divided us.

Great potential for cooperation lies in the sphere of religious dialogue. The historical experience of the Polish Church in interaction with the state and in the practices of social service is very interesting. Finding joint responses to the challenges of world terrorism and the post-Christian world is no less significant. The now discussed bringing to Moscow of the common shrine of the Orthodox and Catholics - the image of the Mother of God of Czestochowa - could do more for our rapprochement than thousands of conferences and newspaper articles.

An important milestone was the speech of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia at a press conference following the results of 2015. Moscow stands for the development of relations between Poles and Russians, Sergei Lavrov said last Tuesday. He emphasized in particular: “Contacts between citizens should not suffer. Even if interstate relations creak for various reasons, we do not want people to suffer from this.” The head of the Foreign Ministry recalled that through joint efforts it was possible to create a small border traffic in the Kaliningrad region and Warmia-Mazury and Pomeranian provinces. Today, this is one of the biggest achievements in Polish-Russian relations in the arena of the European Union.

It should be noted that both sides recognized this program as effective and intend to continue implementation in the bilateral format "Poland - Russia 2014-2020". In fact, the field of cross-border cooperation has become the only successful format in the context of the war of sanctions. It is important that a clear signal be given at the very top of Russia and Poland about the strategic importance of border contacts and that the much-needed "anti-bureaucratic patronage" be constantly carried out.

The scale of mutual ties can be judged by statistics. According to the border service, in 2015 in the millionth Kaliningrad region there were about 6 million crossings as part of small border traffic, the ratio between Russians and Poles is approximately equal. And this voting with their feet goes against all the negative trends associated with the aggravation of the situation, the imposition of sanctions and the depreciation of the ruble. Russians traditionally buy high-quality and inexpensive food, clothing, equipment, building materials in Poland, while Poles come to us for cheap gasoline and cigarettes. But the potential of cross-border trade is not exhausted by this - tourism, medicine, spa services are developing in the region, joint ventures are being created in agribusiness and the production of building materials.

Border regions are traditionally drivers of the mutual process of attracting capital. A powerful impetus to the development of the region could be given by a new format - the Forum of Cross-border Cooperation between the EAEU and the Baltic States with the participation of heads of state. Such a forum could be held regularly in the ports of Kaliningrad, Klaipeda and Elblag as regional centers of economic development. The success of the case will be facilitated by the fact that in 2016 the Kaliningrad region heads the Euroregion "Baltic".

What else can be done today, despite the political difficulties in relations between Warsaw and Moscow and the ongoing war of sanctions?

Analysts who monitor the dynamics in the Polish-Russian border area consider the following areas of cooperation promising: construction work using Polish technologies; components for auto business; the creation of chemical, ship repair clusters, the production of furniture and clothing, all types of tourism. The sphere of agriculture is especially attractive - modern methods of cooperation, cultivation and processing of food using intensive technologies are well developed in Poland. Today, when two-thirds of Russians spend half of their family budget on food, the successful experience of Polish farming is extremely important for us.

In conditions of low oil prices, it is also useful to adopt the Polish recipe for overcoming the economic crisis. Our neighbor was the only EU country that managed to avoid a recession after the 2008 financial crisis. 50% of GDP and sustainable growth of the Polish economy was provided by small businesses, that is, those enterprises that employ less than nine people. Legislation has been adopted to ease administrative pressure and access to microcredit. Maybe, instead of hastily inventing anti-crisis programs, we should take a closer look at our Polish neighbor?

To summarize, it is time to move from simple trade exchange operations to the creation of a line of joint ventures, to the transfer of modern Polish technologies and the localization of industrial production on Russian territory. The birth of the Eurasian Union provides an even wider range of opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between Polish business and the EAEU countries.

To understand the importance of good neighborly relations with Poland, just look at the map. And we will see that the social well-being of the strategic Kaliningrad region directly depends on these relations. Through the Polish corridor there is access to the EU countries for vehicles of the entire Eurasian Union. If these gates are slammed shut, then many EAEU infrastructure projects will become meaningless. Including the autobahn Western China - Western Europe, which is already under construction, and high-speed railway projects.

I believe that this is enough to answer the question why we need all these efforts to establish normal cooperation with Poland. There is such a proverb that we choose enemies and friends ourselves, and a neighbor is always from God. Russia and Poland are God-given neighbors. And we are simply obliged to behave decently on one geopolitical platform - not like offended teenagers, but like wise adults. Our diplomacy, official and popular, must show that we can not only produce conflicts along the entire perimeter, but also successfully resolve them, taking into account the interests of Russia and Poland.

The issue of relations between Russians and Poles is historically difficult. So much so that almost any topic related to the two peoples can turn into a quarrel full of mutual reproaches and enumeration of sins. In this sharpness of mutual affection there is something unlike the carefully concealed alienated hostility of Germans and French, Spaniards and English, even Walloons and Flemings. In relations between Russians and Poles, perhaps, there will never be a sobering cold and averted views. Lenta.ru tried to figure out the reason for this state of affairs.

Since the Middle Ages in Poland, all the Orthodox who lived on the territory of the former Kievan Rus were called Russ, making no distinction for Ukrainians, Belarusians and Russians. Even in the 20th century, in the documents of the Ministry of the Interior, the definition of identity, as a rule, was based on religious affiliation - Catholic, Orthodox or Uniate. In those days, when Prince Kurbsky sought refuge in Lithuania, and Prince Belsky in Moscow, the mutual connection was already quite strong, the differences were obvious, but there was no mutual perception through the prism of "friend or foe". Perhaps this is a normal feature of the feudal era, when it is too early to talk about national identity.

Any self-consciousness is formed in times of crisis. For Russia in the 17th century it was the Time of Troubles, for Poland - the Swedish Flood (the invasion of the Swedes into the Commonwealth in 1655-1660). One of the most important results of the "flood" was the expulsion of Protestants from Poland and the subsequent strengthening of the influence of the Catholic Church. Catholicism has become the blessing and the curse of the Commonwealth. Following the Protestants, the Orthodox, who made up a large part of the country's population, came under attack, and a mechanism of self-destruction was launched in the state. The former Polish-Lithuanian state was distinguished by a rather high national and religious tolerance - Polish Catholics, Muslims, Karaites, Orthodox and pagans, Lithuanians who worshiped Perkunas successfully coexisted together. It is not surprising that the crisis of state power that began under the most prominent of the Polish kings, Jan III Sobiesk, led to a catastrophic contraction and then the death of the Polish state, which had lost its internal consensus. The system of state power opened up too many opportunities for conflicts, giving them legitimacy. The work of the Sejm was paralyzed by the right of liberum veto, which allowed any deputy to cancel all decisions with his own voice, and the royal power was forced to reckon with the gentry confederations. The latter were an armed association of the gentry, who had the full right, if necessary, to oppose the king.

At the same time, Russian absolutism was taking shape east of Poland. Then the Poles will talk about their historical inclination towards freedom, while the Russians will both be proud and ashamed of the autocratic nature of their statehood. Subsequent conflicts, as usual in history inevitable for neighboring peoples, acquired an almost metaphysical meaning of rivalry between two peoples very different in spirit. However, along with this myth, another one will form - about the inability of both Russians and Poles to implement their ideas without violence. A well-known Polish public figure, editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza Adam Michnik remarkably writes about this: “Once in a while we feel like the students of a magician who have freed powers beyond their control from captivity.” Polish uprisings and the Russian revolution, in the end, the Ukrainian Maidan - a senseless and merciless instinct of self-destruction.

Russian statehood was growing stronger, but this was not, as it may seem now, the result of territorial and human superiority over its neighbors. Our country then was a huge, poorly developed and sparsely populated territory. Someone will say that these problems exist today, and they will probably be right. At the end of the 17th century, the population of the Moscow kingdom exceeded 10 million people, which is slightly more than in the neighboring Commonwealth, where 8 million lived, and in France - 19 million. In those days, the Polish neighbors did not have and could not have the complex of a small nation threatened from the East.

In the Russian case, it was all about the historical ambitions of the people and the authorities. Now it does not seem at all strange that, having completed the Northern War, Peter I took the title of Emperor of All Russia. But let's look at this decision in the context of the era - after all, the Russian tsar placed himself above all other European monarchs. The Holy Roman Empire of the German nation does not count - it was not an example or a rival and experienced its worst times. In relations with the Polish king August II the Strong, Peter I undoubtedly dominated, and in terms of the degree of development, Russia begins to outstrip its western neighbor.

Literally in a century, Poland, which saved Europe from the Turkish invasion in 1683 near Vienna, turned into a completely unviable state. Historians have already completed the debate about whether internal or external factors were fatal to Polish statehood in the 18th century. Of course, everything was decided by their combination. But as for the moral responsibility for the gradual decline of the power of Poland, then it can be quite definitely said that the initiative of the first partition belonged to Austria, the second - to Prussia, and the final third - to Russia. All equally, and this is not a childish argument about who started first.

The reaction to the crisis of statehood was, though belated, but fruitful. The Educational Commission (1773-1794) begins its work in the country, which was actually the first ministry of education in Europe. In 1788, the Four-Year Seim convened, which embodied the ideas of the Enlightenment almost simultaneously with the French revolutionaries, but much more humanely. The first in Europe and the second in the world (after the American) Constitution was adopted on May 3, 1791 in Poland.

It was a wonderful undertaking, but it lacked revolutionary force. The constitution recognized all Poles as the Polish people, regardless of class (previously only the gentry was considered such), but retained serfdom. The situation in Lithuania was noticeably improving, but no one thought of translating the Constitution itself into Lithuanian. The subsequent reaction to changes in the political system of Poland led to two partitions and the fall of statehood. Poland has become, in the words of the British historian Norman Davies, "God's toy", or, to put it more simply, an object of rivalry and agreement between neighboring and sometimes distant powers.

The Poles responded with uprisings, mainly in the territory of the Kingdom of Poland, which became part of the Russian Empire in 1815 following the Congress of Vienna. It was in the 19th century that the two peoples really got to know each other, at the same time mutual attraction was formed, sometimes hostility, and often non-recognition. Nikolai Danilevsky considered the Poles an alien part of the Slavs, and a similar approach would later appear among the Poles in relation to the Russians.

The Polish rebels and the Russian autocrats saw the future differently: some dreamed of reviving statehood by any means, others thought in terms of an imperial home, in which there would be a place for everyone, including the Poles. It is also impossible to underestimate the context of the era - in the first half of the 19th century, the Russians were the only Slavic people who had statehood, and great at that. Ottoman domination in the Balkans was seen as enslavement, and Russian power as deliverance from suffering (from the same Turks or Persians, Germans or Swedes, or simply from native savagery). In fact, such a view was not without reason - the imperial authorities were very loyal to the traditional beliefs and customs of the subject peoples, did not try to achieve their Russification, and in many cases the transition to the power of the Russian Empire was a real deliverance from destruction.

Following their usual policy, the Russian autocrats willingly integrated the local elites. But if we talk about Poland and Finland, then the system failed. We can only remember Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, who in 1804-1806 held the post of Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, but thought more about the interests of Poland.

Contradictions accumulated gradually. If in 1830 the Polish insurgents came out with the words "For our and your freedom", then in 1863, in addition to the slogan "Freedom, equality, fraternity", completely bloodthirsty calls were already heard. The methods of guerrilla warfare intensified, and even the liberal-minded public, which at first sympathized with the rebels, quickly changed their minds about them. In addition, the rebels thought not only about national liberation, but also about the restoration of statehood within the borders that the Commonwealth had before the divisions. And the slogan "For our freedom and yours" practically lost its former meaning and was now more associated with the hope that other peoples of the empire would rise, and then it would inevitably collapse. On the other hand, when evaluating such aspirations, we must not forget that the Russian Narodnaya Volya and the anarchists hatched no less destructive plans.

The dense, but somewhat squeamish neighborhood of the two peoples in the 19th century gave rise to mostly negative stereotypes. During the fires in St. Petersburg in 1862, there was even a belief among the people that “students and Poles” were to blame for everything. This was a consequence of the circumstances under which peoples met. A considerable part of the Poles with whom the Russians dealt were political exiles, often insurgents. Their fate in Russia is constant wandering, need, outcast, the need to adapt. Hence the notion of Polish thievery, cunning, flattery and painful ambition. The latter is also understandable - these people tried to preserve human dignity in difficult conditions. On the Polish side, an equally unpleasant opinion was formed about the Russians. Rudeness, cruelty, uncouthness, servility to the authorities - that's what these Russians are.

Among the rebels there were many representatives of the nobility, as a rule, well-educated. Their exile to Siberia and the Urals, willy-nilly, had a positive cultural significance for remote regions. In Perm, for example, the architect Alexander Turchevich and the founder of the first bookstore, Jozef Piotrovsky, are still remembered.

After the uprising of 1863-1864, the policy towards the Polish lands changed seriously. The authorities tried at all costs to avoid a repetition of the rebellion. However, a complete misunderstanding of the national psychology of the Poles is striking. The Russian gendarmes supported the type of behavior of the population of the Kingdom of Poland that best suited their own myth of the inflexibility of the Polish spirit. Public executions, persecution of Catholic priests only contributed to the formation of the cult of martyrs. Russification attempts, in particular, in the education system, were extremely unsuccessful.

Even before the uprising of 1863, the opinion was established in Polish society that it would still not be possible to “divorce” the eastern neighbor, and through the efforts of the Marquis of Wielopolski, a policy of consensus was pursued in exchange for reforms. This gave its results - Warsaw became the third most populated city of the Russian Empire, and reforms began in the Kingdom of Poland itself, bringing it to the forefront of the empire. In order to economically connect the Polish lands with other Russian provinces, in 1851 a decision was made to build the Petersburg-Warsaw railway. It was the fourth railway in Russia (after Tsarskoye Selo, St. Petersburg-Moscow, and Warsaw-Vienna). At the same time, the policy of the Russian authorities was aimed at eliminating autonomy and separating from the Kingdom of Poland the eastern territories that were once part of the historical Commonwealth. In 1866, ten provinces of the Kingdom of Poland were directly annexed to Russian lands, and the following year they introduced a ban on the use of the Polish language in the administrative sphere. The logical outcome of this policy was the abolition of the position of viceroy in 1874 and the introduction of the post of Warsaw governor-general. The Polish lands themselves were called the Vistula region, which the Poles still remember.

Such an approach cannot be called fully meaningful, since it actualized the rejection of everything Russian and, moreover, contributed to the migration of Polish resistance to neighboring Austria-Hungary. A little earlier, the Russian Tsar Nicholas I bitterly joked: “The most stupid of the Polish kings was Jan Sobieski, and the most stupid of the Russian emperors was me. Sobieski - because he saved Austria in 1683, and I - because I saved her in 1848. It was in Austria-Hungary at the beginning of the 20th century that Polish extremists, including the future national leader of Poland, Jozef Pilsudski, received asylum.

On the fronts of the First World War, the Poles fought on both sides in the hope that the conflict would weaken the great powers, and Poland would eventually gain independence. At the same time, conservatives in Krakow considered the option of a triune monarchy of Austria-Hungary-Poland, and pro-Russian nationalists such as Roman Dmowski saw Germanism as the greatest threat to the Polish national spirit.

The end of the First World War did not mean for the Poles, unlike other peoples of Eastern Europe, the end of the vicissitudes of state building. In 1918, the Poles suppressed the Western Ukrainian People's Republic, in 1919 they annexed Vilna (Vilnius), and in 1920 they carried out the Kyiv campaign. In Soviet textbooks, Pilsudski's soldiers were called White Poles, but this is not entirely true. During the most difficult battles between the Red Army and Denikin's army, the Polish troops not only stopped the advance to the east, but also made it clear to the Bolsheviks that they were suspending active operations, thereby allowing the Reds to complete the defeat of the Volunteer Army. For a long time, among the Russian emigration, this was perceived as a betrayal. Next - Mikhail Tukhachevsky's campaign against Warsaw and the "miracle on the Vistula", the author of which was Marshal Jozef Pilsudski himself. The defeat of the Soviet troops and the huge number of prisoners (according to the prominent Slavist G.F. Matveev, about 157 thousand people), their inhuman suffering in Polish concentration camps - all this became a source of almost inexhaustible Russian hostility towards the Poles. In turn, the Poles have similar feelings towards the Russians after Katyn.

What cannot be taken away from our neighbors is the ability to keep the memory of their suffering. Almost every Polish city has a street named after the victims of the Katyn massacres. And no solution to problematic issues will lead to their renaming, acceptance of historical reality and amendments to textbooks. In the same way, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the Warsaw Uprising will be remembered for a long time in Poland. Few people know that the old corners of the Polish capital are actually rebuilt according to paintings and photographs. After the Warsaw Uprising was suppressed by the Nazis, the city was completely destroyed and looked approximately the same as the Soviet Stalingrad. Any rational arguments explaining the impossibility of supporting the rebels by the Soviet army will not be taken into account. This is part of a national legend, which is more important than the mere fact of the loss of about 20 percent of the population in World War II. In turn, in Russia they will think with sadness about the ingratitude of the Poles, like all other Slavs, for whom we have stood up for the last three centuries.

The reason for the mutual misunderstanding between Russia and Poland is that we have different destinies. We measure in different ways and reason in different categories. The powerful Commonwealth turned into a "toy of God", and Muscovy, which was once in the backyard, became a great empire. Even escaping from the arms of the "big brother", Poland will never find another share, how to be a satellite of other powers. And for Russia there is no other fate than to be an empire or not to be at all.

Good neighborly relations or mutual hostility? This moment remains relevant and painful for Poles and Russians today. Historically, difficult relations have developed between states, and now any issue can cause a political conflict between countries, which will inevitably develop into mutual reproaches, accusations and reminders of mistakes. Russian-Polish relations were difficult before and remain so at the present time.

History of Russian-Polish relations

In the Middle Ages in Poland, the Orthodox population living on the territory of Kievan Rus was called Russ, without singling out Belarusians, Russians, Ukrainians. In the era of feudal fragmentation, it was too early to talk about national identity. At that time, relations between countries were not yet perceived in the context of friends or enemies. What historically led to the impossibility of forming strong relations between Russia and Poland?

Period before the Mongol yoke

It is possible to track in detail the history of Russian-Polish relations, then still Russian-Polish, from the end of the 10th century. In 981, Prince Vladimir I conquered the Eastern Slavic cities of Cherven and Przemysl from the Poles. This event can be considered as the first military conflict between countries. But in order to continue to maintain peaceful relations, Vladimir married his son Svyatopolk to the daughter of the Polish king Boleslav I.

After the death of the Grand Duke, the struggle for the throne began between Yaroslav the Wise and Svyatopolk the Accursed. The latter had to flee to Poland and ask for help from Boleslav. The king supports Svyatopolk, organizes a successful military campaign and captures Kyiv. But the resistance of the rebellious citizens forced the Poles to leave the center of Kievan Rus with the treasury and the captive sisters of Yaroslav the Wise. He also returns the Cherven cities captured by the Poles in 1031 immediately after being approved on the throne.

Almost one to one, the history of the Russian-Polish conflict repeats itself in 1069, when Izyaslav Yaroslavovich asks for help from Boleslav II the Bold - thanks to a new campaign against Kyiv with Polish troops, the Russian prince receives the throne. Periods of wars and peaceful neighborliness succeed each other and even lead to alliances - in 1076 Vladimir Monomakh and the Prince of Volyn help the Pole in the fight against the Czechs.

Feudal fragmentation of Russia

In the 12th century, there were practically no conflicts or alliances between the Russians and the Poles - each state was engulfed in its own strife, civil strife and feudal strife. In the 13th century, the Mongols attacked Poland, but they could not subjugate the country, unlike part of the Russian principalities, although they brought serious ruin to the lands.

At this time, conflicts arise only with the Galicia-Volyn principality (present-day Ukraine), which was part of Kievan Rus. Twice campaigns were undertaken against Poland - 1205, 1280, both unsuccessful. The Poles themselves did not attack the Galician lands, first because of their own strife, and then because of the protectorate of the Mongols over this territory. In 1320, Vladislav I Loketek ascended the throne, who brought together a fragmented state. From that moment on, Poland began to challenge the subjugation of Western Russia from Lithuania, which, after the conflict of 1340-1392, led to the redistribution of the Galicia-Volyn principality.

Livonian War

The Mongol yoke continued until 1480. At this time, the Russian lands were significantly depleted by raids. The post-Mongolian period became a turning point in relations between Russia and Poland. In the 15th century, rivalry between the Moscow principality and Lithuania began, which led to a number of military confrontations. The goal of the campaign on the part of the Russians was the struggle for the unification of the lands. Despite the union signed in 1385, the Poles took part in the Russian-Lithuanian wars on the side of the principality of Moscow three times.

• The confrontation of 1561-1570 was part of a large-scale European conflict - the Livonian War.
• The reason for its unleashing is Russia's desire to secure a wide outlet to the Baltic.
• The northern states unite against the Russians, and Poland also takes part in the coalition.
• During the Livonian War in 1569, the Union of Lublin was concluded, uniting Lithuania and Poland into a strong state of the Commonwealth.

According to the terms of the union, the Kiev region, Volhynia, and Podolia were annexed to the Polish territory, later the lands were called Ukraine. At the same time, with the assistance of Ivan the Terrible, the Zaporozhye Cossacks were born. In the Livonian War, Russia is forced to switch from offensive to defensive tactics, surviving the siege of Pskov and Velikie Luki. The Commonwealth demonstrates the position of a strong state with powerful potential.

In the 16th century, political relations between Russia and Poland escalated, resulting in an informational confrontation. The Poles undermine the confidence of foreign ambassadors in their northern neighbor, portraying Muscovy as not Russia, seeking to split the then strong Slavic alliance. There is a struggle going on against Orthodox Russians living on the territory of Poland by bringing them into the bosom of the Catholic faith.

Time of Troubles and the Swedish Flood

The period from 1601 to 1613 became a systemic state crisis for Russia. The country is torn apart by the struggle for power, external intervention, economic collapse. Tsar Boris Godunov managed to stabilize the situation, but the great famine of 1604 causes dissatisfaction with his rule. The history of relations between Russia and Poland in the Time of Troubles:

1. The appearance of False Dmitry I, who received the support of Sigismund III and Yuri Mnishek, the entry of Polish troops into the territory of Russia.
2. The death of Boris Godunov in 1605 brings his son Fyodor to the Russian throne, the tsar barely lasted two months and was killed.
3. False Dmitry I becomes king and, by agreement with Sigismund, Poland was to withdraw the northern lands and the Smolensk region.
4. But False Dmitry I was killed, and Vasily Shuisky was elected the new tsar. In 1608, a new impostor is announced - False Dmitry II.
5. Vasily Shuisky is forced to conclude an alliance with Sweden - territories in exchange for an armed army. The Polish king Sigismund III receives a pretext for declaring war on Russia.

In the 17th century, the Polish invasion begins. In 1609, Smolensk was taken and occupation power was established in Moscow for 4 years. In troubled times in Russian-Polish relations, military conflicts escalate. In 1612, the formed troops of the Second People's Militia liberated Moscow and Minin and Pozharsky temporarily ruled the country.

In 1613, the throne was given to Mikhail Romanov, who was elected tsar by decision of the Zemsky Sobor. Under his rule, the struggle with the Poles continues, but Russia cannot return the Smolensk lands and loses Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversky. The conclusion of the Poliansky peace in 1634 only temporarily stabilizes Russian-Polish relations, since its terms do not suit both sides.

In 1655-1660, the Swedish flood begins in Poland - the invasion of the northern army into the territory of the Commonwealth. Protestants are being expelled from the country, the influence of the Catholic Church is growing, and the Orthodox population of the Polish-Lithuanian state is being “hit”. The result of the Swedish Flood is a complete crisis of power, intensification of conflict situations in the Sejm. The king is forced to reckon with the opinion of the gentry confederations, and any of the deputies can cancel all decisions made with his vote, using the right of liberum veto.

Russian and Polish statehood

Historically, the root of the problem in Russia's international relations with Poland lies in the different development of countries in the same period of time. While the Poles endure the Swedish invasion and internal political crisis, Russia is growing stronger, uniting the peoples living on vast territories into a single community. At the end of the 17th century, the population of the Commonwealth was 8 million people, the Muscovite kingdom - 10 million. For comparison, in France at that time there were 19 million. Poland could not feel uneasy from close proximity to Russia.

Nevertheless, in 1654 a new war between countries began, which was provoked by the accession to Russia of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, led by Bogdan Khmelnitsky. The war of liberation ends with an oath of allegiance to the Russian Tsar and the separation of the Hetmanate (the lands of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks), which unleashes a new Russian-Polish conflict - the Thirteen Years' War, the key events of which were:

1. 1654-1656 - the Russian-Zaporozhye army returned the Smolensk region in a year and a half of hostilities, occupied part of Lithuania and Poland, reaching the Neman and Vistula rivers in the west.
2. In July 1655, Sweden gets involved in the war, which is worried about the occupation of Lithuanian lands, convenient for an attack on the Baltic. Poland is negotiating a truce with Moscow.
3. 1656-1658 - Russian-Swedish war. While the truce with Poland is in effect, Russia is successfully at war with Sweden, the lands to the west of Lake Peipsi were annexed.
4. 1658-1662, the Cossacks remain one on one with Poland, and Bogdan Khmelnitsky is looking for allies in the person of Sweden and Transylvania, but the agreement was signed due to his death in 1657.
5. Yuri Khmelnitsky was elected hetman, a month later Ivan Vygovsky, who spoke out as a supporter of Poland and signed the Gadyach Treaty, removed him, the Russian-Polish war resumed.

Vyhovsky flees to Poland, Yuri Khmelnitsky becomes hetman. The Russian army is being forced out of Belarus and Western Ukraine. And in 1666, the Polish-Turkish war begins, so Poland asks Russia for a truce. The main condition of the Andrusov agreement is an agreement on the cessation of hostilities between Russia and Poland for 13 and a half years. Belarus and Right-Bank Ukraine goes to the Poles, and Left-Bank Ukraine, Smolensk and Severshchina to Russians.

Russian-Polish cooperation

The final peace treaty between the countries was the Eternal Peace of 1686. Changes were made to the Andrusovo truce, thanks to which Russia received Kyiv and a neutral territory was created in this region. In 1687 and 1689, the Russians undertook unsuccessful campaigns against the Crimean Khanate, and the Commonwealth ceased religious persecution against Orthodox subjects.

The conclusion of the Eternal Peace united the two states against the Tatar-Turkish aggression and became the basis of the Russian-Polish alliance in the Northern War of 1700-1721. In 1699, the Northern Union of Monarchs of Russia (Peter I), Denmark (Frederick IV) and Saxony (August II) was formed. The King of Sweden, Charles XII, found a pretext for intervention in Poland and in 1701 attacked Courland (a vassal territory of the Commonwealth), starting a 4-year Polish campaign. Poland comes under the control of the Swedish protege Stanislav Leshchinsky.

In 1709-1710, after the defeat of the Swedes near Poltava, the Commonwealth was liberated from the Swedish occupation, but no longer takes part in the war due to internal decay caused by the occupation and the civil war. By 1720, the country was becoming very weak, the central government was losing its authority and could not appease the willfulness of the gentry. As a result, the Commonwealth becomes a "tidbit" for strong neighbors, Russia and Austria.

Three partitions of Poland

In 1733, the struggle for the succession flares up after the death of King Augustus II. Russia supported the candidacy of August III, and France - Stanislav Leshchinsky. The Russian army enters Warsaw, and Augustus is chosen as heir to the throne. Stanislaw flees to Gdansk, organizes resistance with the support of the French authorities, but Russia wins the military confrontation and gains serious influence on Poland. In 1764, Stanisław Poniatowski, a favorite of the Russian Empress Catherine II, became the last king of the Commonwealth. Ultimately, the country expects three territorial divisions:

• 1772 - Catherine does not want the division of the Polish-Lithuanian state, but is forced to cede to Austria and Prussia against the background of the Russian-Turkish war and unwillingness to get involved in a new conflict. The Russian-Prussian and Russian-Austrian conventions were signed, according to which Russia received the Polish part of Livonia and the lands of Belarus.
• 1793 - despite the adopted reforms and the strengthening of the authority of power, a deep noble split begins in Poland. While Russia is at war with Turkey, Prussia is provoking another four-year Sejm to break off Polish-Russian relations. The ideas of Enlightenment and independence became widespread, which was enshrined in the Constitution of 1791.
• In addition to changing the political structure (the abolition of the Liberum Veto principle, and so on) and a partial increase in the rights of citizens and peasants, it also proclaimed a refusal to recognize the First Partition and the equality of Orthodoxy and Protestantism with Catholicism, while the Polish army was increased to 100 thousand people, a map of the Polish state redrawn again.
• 1794-1795 - the partition caused widespread discontent among the nobility, part of the gentry united for an uprising led by Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Krakow was quickly occupied and the Act of Uprising was proclaimed;

During the Warsaw Matins on April 17, from 2 to 4 thousand soldiers of the Russian garrison were killed (~ 30-60% of its strength). The troops of Russia and Prussia, which entered the Commonwealth, inflicted a final defeat on the rebels and took Prague. December 24, 1794 signed Russian-

The Austrian convention, according to which in 1795 the last division of the Commonwealth took place. According to it, Russia received land to the east of the Bug and the Nemirov-Grodno line - a territory of 120 thousand km2 with a population of 1.2 million people. Ethnic Polish lands were divided between Austria and Prussia.

Poland within the Russian Empire

The beginning of the 19th century was marked by the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. The French emperor founded the vassal Duchy of Warsaw as a springboard to put pressure on Austria, Prussia and Russia. Napoleon successfully used the Polish question. This worries the Russians and strains relations with France. In the war of 1812, the Duchy of Warsaw fielded a 100,000-strong army under the command of Marshal Jozef Poniatowski, another 20,000 people were called up from the occupied territory of Lithuania.

After the expulsion of Napoleon's army from Russia, the situation of the Duchy of Warsaw became more complicated. Russia insisted on joining the entire territory, but met with opposition from Austria, Prussia and England.

As a result of the Congress of Vienna, most of the territory of the Duchy was assigned to Russia, and the autonomous Kingdom of Poland was formed as part of Russia. In 1815, its Constitution was adopted, the Russian-Polish union was approved, and a separate government and army were created.

Discontent is brewing in Poland, slogans about the complete independence of the state are increasingly heard. Such sentiments in 1830 resulted in an uprising. Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich flees Warsaw, massacres of Russian officers begin. The Sejm goes over to the side of the rebels, in Poland they form the Provisional Government headed by Adam Czartoryski. After long and bloody battles, the uprising was crushed, the Constitution was abolished and a military dictatorship was established. In 1863 new protests began. At the same time, the son of Nicholas I, Alexander II, an adherent of liberal views, came to power in Russia. In March 1861, he published a decree granting autonomy and self-government to the Kingdom of Poland. The January rebellion of 1863 covers all of Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. The agrarian reform and the abolition of serfdom by Alexander II put an end to the uprising.

Poland and the USSR

After the retreat of the Russian army in 1915 in World War I, the Kingdom of Poland was occupied by German and Austro-Hungarian troops. In 1918, Polish rebels disarmed the German garrison in Warsaw, and the history of independent Poland began:

1. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, parts of Pomerania, Poznan and Silesia were ceded to Poland.
2. Relations between the Polish and Soviet Republics are aggravated by claims to Belarusian and Ukrainian lands - the war of 1919.
3. In March 1921, the Riga Peace Treaty was signed, the territories of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus depart for the Poles.
4. The military coup of 1926 brings Jozef Piłsudski into Power, the Communist Party is banned in Poland.
5. The state adheres to anti-Soviet sentiments and goes for rapprochement with Germany and a conflict with Czechoslovakia in 1938.
6. In 1939, the Germans attacked Poland, starting World War II. The country is divided between the USSR and Germany.
7. 1941 - Patriotic War, at the beginning of which the Germans occupied Ukraine, Belarus and Poland.

After the Munich Agreement of 1938, Poland demonstrates a clear pro-German position. Presents an ultimatum to Czechoslovakia, demanding the transfer of the Teszyn region. The courage of the Poles is explained simply - they received Hitler's assurance of support if a conflict arises with Czechoslovakia. September 30, 1938 Poland occupies the Teszyn region.

In 1939, the threat of a German-Polish war becomes real - Hitler quickly renounces his promises. The Poles hope for help from Great Britain and France, and remain true to their anti-Soviet views. But Poland's calculation did not materialize - Germany sees it as a strategic base, and the Western allies are in no hurry to enter into serious military conflicts with the Germans. In September 1939, German troops occupied Poland, and the country temporarily ceased to exist.

The territory of Poland is divided between the USSR and Germany, the Red Army crosses the Polish border on September 17, 1939, and 2 weeks later occupies the lands of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine. Later, this fact of crossing the Polish border by Soviet troops in 1939 would become an occasion for attacks on the Russian Federation in the 90s - a deep alienation would arise in Poland's policy towards Russia after perestroika. The Poles will accuse the former USSR and the Russian Federation, as its successor, of attacking a weak state.

Poland's shortsightedness in foreign policy made it Hitler's first target. After the German offensive on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War begins. The losses of the USSR in the first months of hostilities were colossal. Poles and Soviet citizens consolidate their efforts in the fight against a common enemy, wage a partisan war against the Germans until 1943. In 1944, the People's Army was created, which carried out 904 military operations, the Home Army operates in Warsaw, organizes an uprising, which was brutally suppressed by the German administration.

On July 21, 1944, the Red Army enters the territory of Poland in order to liberate the now fraternal people. But the offensive against the German units was suspended due to desperate resistance, insufficient supply of the armies and the need to fight on other fronts. After preparing the rear and creating fortified bridgeheads, the Vistula-Oder operation began (January 12, 1945), during which Warsaw was liberated from the German invaders by the Red Army and the People's Army.

After the war, Polish statehood was restored, and Bolesław Bierut became the first president of the PPR. After that, Poland remained an active supporter of the USSR in Europe for many decades, maintaining economic and military ties with the Union until the very 90s. With the coming to power of Lech Walesa, the second president of the country, the history of Russian-Polish relations at the present stage begins. There will remain many contentious issues on which the parties have been unable to reach an agreement for many years.

Modern relations between Russia and Poland

Contradictory history, Russian-Polish wars, proximity of borders, common Slavic roots create certain difficulties in the relationship between the two countries. The Poles will not forgive Katyn, the Russians will not forget the concentration camps for Soviet prisoners of war. A constructive dialogue between countries is impossible without making compromise decisions, but the Poles and Russians, old neighbors and rivals, are still ready to forgive each other for past grievances. What has become a stumbling block in relations between Poland and Russia today?

Question of Katyn

Despite political strife, good economic and humanitarian ties have been established between the countries. But the dominance of anti-Russian rhetoric in the Polish media, the undisguised hostility towards neighbors and the almost complete disregard of attacks by Russia contribute to the growing alienation between the states.

The mass murder of Polish captured officers and Soviet citizens by the NKVD in 1940 is one of the most brutal tragedies in the history of the Soviet Union. The Katyn shootings in a village near Smolensk were carried out by decision of the troika of the NKVD of the USSR and by the direct order of Stalin. According to the published documents, more than 21 thousand people died. Regarding this tragedy, investigations were carried out by the German, Soviet, Polish side, the main military prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation. Some of the archival documents on the Katyn massacres have been declassified and made public. But there are still a lot of questions and sharp corners in the topic that cannot be overcome without a dialogue between Poles and Russians at the highest political level.

One can talk about the current state of Russian-Polish relations for a long time - the ice between the countries is very strong. Poles cannot be deprived of the ability to keep the memory of their troubles for decades. Almost every city in Poland has a street named after the victims of the Katyn massacre. A tragic event took place, and history cannot be rewritten. In a terrible event, not only Poles, but also Soviet citizens suffered from Stalinist repressions. Since the Russian Federation is the successor of the USSR on all issues, Poland continues to "show bills" for the Katyn tragedy.

Plane crash near Smolensk

The terrible tragedy that happened on April 10, 2010 with the Polish aircraft number one, which was heading to Smolensk for mourning events dedicated to the Katyn events, aggravates modern relations between Russia and Poland. The TU-154 plane crashed near the Smolensk military airfield. On board the liner were the President of Poland with his wife and the highest political and military elite of the country. 96 passengers and the entire crew of the aircraft were killed.

The plane crash caused new disagreements between the Polish and Russian sides. Despite investigations, Poland accuses Russia of plotting to destroy the Polish ruling elite. The 8-year-long investigation gives more questions than answers, the key points of the proceedings are:

1. According to the Russians, the plane crashed due to a mistake by the pilots who wanted to land the plane, despite the fog, poor visibility and dispatcher messages about the need to go around and fly to another airfield.
2. The 2011 investigation report cited human error as the cause of the disaster. The Russian side emphasizes that there were unauthorized persons in the cockpit, and alcohol was found in the body of General Andrzej Blasik, commander of the Polish Air Force.
3. In 2015, the Polish side initiated a second investigation when the Law and Justice party came to power in the country. Defense Minister Anthony Macerevich then said that the previous investigation was falsified.
4. In a new published report, Poland names two explosions on board the presidential plane as the cause of the tragedy. This fact caused a corresponding reaction on the part of the Russian Federation and the world community, and relations between Russia and Poland today have finally come to a standstill.

Warsaw insists on the involvement of the Kremlin in the tragic incident, the events take on a political context. In August 2018, Moscow agrees to let Polish experts into the wreckage of the aircraft for a more detailed inspection. But the point in this matter has not yet been set.

Ukrainian question

In April 2014, an armed conflict began in eastern Ukraine. Donetsk and Luhansk regions announce the creation of autonomous republics of the DPR and LPR, the Ukrainian authorities accuse Russia of supporting separatists and militants, of annexing Crimea, calling the Russian Federation an aggressor. The conflict affects the interests of Poland, whose foreign policy is focused on supporting the United States, Russia's eternal opponent. The Poles support the Ukrainian authorities, forming a counterweight to the Russians in Eastern Europe. Ukraine itself is striving with all its might to join the European Union, even at the cost of the lives of its own citizens.

How profitable is it for Ukraine and Poland to be "friends" against Russia? Historically, the development of such a scenario is quite natural. Even before the emergence of the Hetmanate and divisions of the Zaporozhye Cossacks, the western part of the country was under the influence of Poland. The idea of ​​unification with Ukraine is not new for the Poles. And the events in the Donbass and Crimea in 2014 opened up good prospects for the implementation of Poland's ambitious plans.

Russian-Polish relations in 2018 are absent at the highest level. Economic and social ties are preserved, but all issues of cooperation are resolved at the level of the relevant ministries and departments. Poland is the representative of the new Europe, which is actively supported by the United States against the old Europe. As a member of the European Union, Poles have to reckon with the opinions of other strong players in the community. And Germany and France do not want to fight for Ukraine with Russia, preferring to resolve issues through negotiations and the conclusion of the Minsk agreements.

A new nuance in Ukrainian-Polish relations is the inability to agree on issues of the historical memory of the two states. The contradictions between Warsaw and Kyiv are intensifying, while the situation with Russia is heating up. The problem is exacerbated by the process of decommunization initiated in Poland. The demolition of monuments to the Red Army causes a painful reaction in Moscow and the discontent of the Russians.

In the 21st century, Russia and Poland made several attempts to agree on mutually beneficial cooperation. Important projects were developed in the field of education, economic relations, and social policy. But all initiatives are on hold as countries fail to resolve difficult issues and forget past grievances. Poland's attitude towards Russia is now unambiguously negative. And it's not just about Katyn, Ukraine or Smolensk. The reason for mutual misunderstanding lies much deeper. History shows that Russians and Poles, having common Slavic roots, have always competed for territory. And if the Commonwealth survived three sections and actually lost its statehood, then the Moscow Kingdom became a great empire. So could this be the reason?

Speaking at a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda, Pence said that “in recent years, Poland has become one of our most important allies and a major player in world affairs”….

Many Poles dislike Russia and Russians. Today is a national holiday - National Unity Day. It is connected with the Polish intervention. But the attitude of Russians towards Poles is traditionally positive. I decided that it would be useful to know everything about Russian-Polish relations.

In the XVI-XVII centuries. Russia and Poland waged numerous wars among themselves. The Livonian War (1558-1583) was fought by Moscow Rus against the Livonian Order, the Polish-Lithuanian state, Sweden and Denmark for hegemony in the Baltic states. In addition to Livonia, the Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible hoped to conquer the East Slavic lands that were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. For Russian-Polish relations, the unification of Lithuania and Poland during the war into a single state - the Commonwealth (Unia of Lublin in 1569) became important.

The confrontation between Russia and Lithuania was replaced by the confrontation between Russia and Poland. King Stefan Batory inflicted a number of defeats on the Russian army and was stopped only under the walls of Pskov. According to the Yam Zapolsky (1582) peace treaty with Poland, Russia renounced its conquests in Lithuania and lost access to the Baltic.

During the Time of Troubles, the Poles invaded Russia three times.

For the first time, under the pretext of helping the supposedly legitimate Tsar Dmitry - False Dmitry I. In 1610, the Moscow government, the so-called Seven Boyars, itself called the Polish prince Vladislav IV to the Russian throne and let the Polish troops into the city. In 1612, the Poles were expelled from Moscow by the people's militia under the command of Minin and Pozharsky. In 1617, Prince Vladislav made a campaign against Moscow. After an unsuccessful assault, he entered into negotiations and signed the Deulin truce. The Poles got Smolensk, Chernigov and Seversk lands.

In June 1632, after the Deulino truce, Russia tried to recapture Smolensk from Poland, but was defeated (Smolensk War, 1632-1634). The Poles failed to build on the success, the borders remained unchanged. However, for the Russian government, the most important condition was the official renunciation of the Polish king Vladislav IV from his claims to the Russian throne.

The new Russian-Polish war (1654-1667) began after the acceptance of the Hetmanate of Bohdan Khmelnitsky into Russia under the Pereyaslav agreements. According to the peace treaty of Andrusovo, the Smolensk and Chernihiv lands and the Left-bank Ukraine passed to Russia, and Zaporozhye was declared under a joint Russian-Polish protectorate. Kyiv was declared a temporary possession of Russia, but according to the "Eternal Peace" on May 16, 1686, it finally passed to it.

Ukrainian and Belarusian lands became a “bone of contention” for Poland and Russia until the middle of the 20th century.

The end of the Russian-Polish wars was facilitated by the threat to both states from Turkey and its vassal, the Crimean Khanate.

In the Northern War against Sweden 1700-1721. Poland was an ally of Russia.

In the 2nd half of the XVIII century. the gentry of the Commonwealth, torn apart by internal contradictions, was in a state of deep crisis and decline, which made it possible for Prussia and Russia to interfere in its affairs. Russia participated in the War of the Polish Succession 1733-1735.
Sections of the Commonwealth in 1772-1795 between Russia, Prussia and Austria took place without major wars, because the state, weakened due to internal turmoil, could no longer offer serious resistance to more powerful neighbors.

As a result of the three sections of the Commonwealth and the redistribution at the Vienna Congress of 1814-1815. Tsarist Russia was transferred to most of the Warsaw principality (formed Kingdom of Poland). Polish national liberation uprisings of 1794 (led by Tadeusz Kosciuszko), 1830-1831, 1846, 1848, 1863-1864 were suppressed.

In 1918, the Soviet government annulled all the treaties of the tsarist government on the division of the country.

After the defeat of Germany in the First World War, Poland became an independent state. Its leadership made plans to restore the borders of the Commonwealth in 1772. The Soviet government, on the contrary, intended to establish control over the entire territory of the former Russian Empire, making it, as officially declared, a springboard for world revolution.

The Soviet-Polish war of 1920 began successfully for Russia, Tukhachevsky's troops were near Warsaw, but then the defeat followed. According to various estimates, from 80 to 165 thousand Red Army soldiers were taken prisoner. Polish researchers consider documented the death of 16,000 of them. Russian and Soviet historians put the number at 80,000. According to the Riga Peace Treaty of 1921, Western Ukraine and Western Belarus were ceded to Poland.

On August 23, 1939, a non-aggression pact was concluded between the USSR and Germany, better known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Attached to the treaty was a secret additional protocol defining the delimitation of Soviet and German spheres of influence in Eastern Europe. On August 28, an explanation was signed to the "secret additional protocol", which delimited the spheres of influence "in the event of a territorial and political reorganization of the regions that are part of the Polish State." The zone of influence of the USSR included the territory of Poland to the east of the line of the rivers Pissa, Narew, Bug, Vistula, San. This line roughly corresponded to the so-called "Curzon Line", along which it was supposed to establish the eastern border of Poland after the First World War.

On September 1, 1939, fascist Germany unleashed World War II by attacking Poland. Having defeated the Polish army within a few weeks, she occupied most of the country. On September 17, 1939, in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Red Army crossed the eastern border of Poland.

Soviet troops captured 240,000 Polish soldiers. More than 14 thousand officers of the Polish army were interned in the fall of 1939 on the territory of the USSR. In 1943, two years after the occupation of the western regions of the USSR by German troops, there were reports that NKVD officers shot Polish officers in the Katyn forest, located 14 kilometers west of Smolensk.
In May 1945, the territory of Poland was completely liberated by units of the Red Army and the Polish Army. Over 600 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers died in the battles for the liberation of Poland.

By the decisions of the Berlin (Potsdam) Conference of 1945, Poland was returned to its western lands, and the border along the Oder-Neisse was established. After the war, the construction of a socialist society was proclaimed in Poland under the leadership of the Polish United Workers' Party (PUWP). The Soviet Union rendered great assistance in the restoration and development of the national economy. In 1945-1993. the Soviet Northern Group of Forces was stationed in Poland; in 1955-1991 Poland was a member of the Warsaw Treaty Organization.

By the manifesto of the Polish Committee of National Liberation of July 22, 1944, Poland was proclaimed the Polish Republic. From July 22, 1952 to December 29, 1989 - the Polish People's Republic. Since December 29, 1989 - the Republic of Poland.

Diplomatic relations between the RSFSR and Poland were established in 1921, between the USSR and Poland - from January 5, 1945, the successor - the Russian Federation.

On May 22, 1992, the Treaty of Friendly and Good Neighborly Relations was signed between Russia and Poland.

The legal foundation of relations is formed by an array of documents concluded between the former USSR and Poland, as well as over 40 interstate and intergovernmental treaties and agreements signed over the past 18 years.

In the period 2000-2005. political ties between Russia and Poland were maintained quite intensively. President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin had 10 meetings with President of the Republic of Poland Aleksander Kwasniewski. Contacts were regularly made between the heads of government and ministers of foreign affairs, through the parliamentary line. There was a bilateral Committee on the Strategy of Russian-Polish Cooperation, meetings of the Russia-Poland Public Dialogue Forum were held regularly.

After 2005, the intensity and level of political contacts decreased significantly. This was influenced by the confrontational line of the Polish leadership, expressed in maintaining a socio-political atmosphere unfriendly towards our country.

The new Polish government headed by Donald Tusk, formed in November 2007, declares its interest in normalizing Russian-Polish ties and readiness for an open dialogue in order to find solutions to the accumulated problems in bilateral relations.

On August 6, 2010, the inauguration of the elected President of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski, took place. In his solemn speech, Komorowski said that he would support the process of rapprochement with Russia that had begun: "I will contribute to the process of rapprochement and Polish-Russian reconciliation that has begun. This is an important challenge facing both Poland and Russia."

It seems to me that we should not forget both the bad and the good. It is very important to remember that Poland in history was both an ally of Russia and part of the Russian Empire for a century. History teaches us that friends can be traitors, but there are no enemies forever either.

Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky, Specialist in European Politics, Associate Professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, spoke about the current Russian-Polish relations and the conflict between the new Polish government and the EU in an interview with Expert Online.

For cargo and general

Recently, a new scandal has flared up between Russia and Poland - this time with carriers. What is its reason?

Initially, it was an exclusively economic issue, which then acquired a political coloring. On the Polish side, there was an attempt to obtain significantly larger quotas than before. Meanwhile, the road transportation market is arranged in such a way that each of the parties has its own strictly defined limits, which should put carriers from different countries in approximately equal conditions. There are also numerous related issues, such as tolls for using roads in another country, and so on.

In principle, such problems have happened before, but as a result, it was possible to negotiate. But now the problem lies not only in the fact that the Poles want to oust Russian carriers, but also in the fact that their goal is the actual monopolization of cargo transportation with Russia and Belarus within the EU. By and large, there are no workarounds, and they decided to play on this. They played, and as a result, at the moment, both parties are suffering losses, and carriers from Lithuania and Belarus can potentially win. By the way, ten thousand permits were urgently issued to the latter, so that the flow of goods would not stop completely. And, of course, they will win in Finland - if the solution of the problem drags on, then the goods will go through Finnish ports.

If we talk about the legal side of the matter, then all quotas are divided into three categories: transit transportation, bilateral transportation and the so-called transportation in favor of third countries. In the latter case, this may be, for example, the transportation of goods from Berlin to Moscow by Polish transport companies. And from the moment when changes in legislation came into force in our country, the interpretation of transportation in favor of third countries has changed radically. Now, by the way, the transportation of goods produced in Poland by foreign companies is also considered as such. According to the new regulations, such transportation is severely limited. So the blow to Polish transport companies is quite serious and they have something to argue about.

Another scandal was the situation with the monument to Chernyakhovsky, which resulted in a very heated discussion between the Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky and the Polish host. What is the general's fault?

He was a terrific general, by the way. He commanded the 3rd Belorussian Front, and then he was not even forty. However, in Poland he is charged with the fact that, allegedly under his leadership, the militants of the Home Army were disarmed after the entry of Soviet troops into Poland. There is no documentary evidence of this, and it cannot be. Simply because such tasks were not included in its functionality. The so-called "August raid" was led by Major General Gorgonov, Assistant Chief of the SMERSH Main Directorate, and Lieutenant General Zelenin, Head of the Counterintelligence Directorate of the 3rd Belorussian Front. And the order was given by the head of SMERSH Viktor Abakumov. This operation was not entirely in the army, at least in terms of planning and leadership. I'm not sure that all these subtleties are known in Poland.

But there is another important issue. I'm talking about the myth of the Home Army as heroes without fear or reproach, who fought for the freedom of their homeland. In fact, with the exception of the Warsaw Uprising, almost until the end of the war, there was no real struggle between this “army” and the Germans. Let's just say that this "army" was so well hidden that it did not manifest itself either in word or in action. However, the Germans noted some principles of the Polish militants - they robbed only the Belarusians and attacked the fleeing Jews, but did not touch the Poles. With the advent of Soviet troops, they made sorties and looted convoys, which led to the inevitable reaction.

Doomed to conflict?

In addition to tactical problems, strategic conflicts continue with Poland, in particular in Ukraine. What is the essence of the Russian-Polish confrontation in Ukraine? Does Warsaw need the Kyiv regime in its current state? And, by the way, why do Ukrainians take political Vikings from the failed reforms of Lithuania, but not from the comparatively successful reforms of Poland?

Polish advisers are present in Ukraine, but hardly anyone listens to them: the Ukrainian elites are too absorbed in the process of redistribution of property. And none of the serious people will go to significant positions in the Ukrainian government - reputation is more expensive.

If we talk about Polish interests in Ukraine, then they are very large. Starting from economic, ending with strategic myths. I mean that famous phrase of Brzezinski, which has long been taken seriously nowhere except in Poland - that Russia will never become an empire again, unless it re-annexes Ukraine.

Yes, what they see in Poland now is not the changes in Ukraine that they originally wanted. But the most important thing for Warsaw is the continuation of the process of de-Russification of Ukraine. In general, this alone is enough to continue to support the policy of the current Kyiv authorities.

How fundamental and systemic is the anti-Russian sharpness of Polish foreign policy? Or are they talking about Warsaw in Moscow?

It can be seen that of all the countries of Eastern Europe, Russia has poor relations only with those countries with which it borders. In addition to Poland, these are also the Baltic republics. And it's not a matter of special historical memory - there was both the Czechoslovak 1968 and the Hungarian 1956. And if you delve into history, the Hungarians still remember the suppression of the uprising against the Habsburgs by the troops of Nicholas I in the 19th century. But this does not interfere with current affairs, so historical memory has nothing to do with it. But there is an attempt to play on our border with Russia and catch any conflict as a tailwind - it is.

There is another pattern. Relations with Poland always improve when the normalization of relations between Moscow and Washington begins. The “friendship” between Putin and Kwasniewski lasted exactly until Russia spoiled relations with the United States by opposing the operation to overthrow Saddam. And the détente, which is usually associated with the death of Lech Kaczynski and Tusk's initially constructive policy, was in fact connected with the "reset" in Russian-American relations. The reset is over, and so is the normalization of relations with Warsaw.

Are there then prospects for building normal Russian-Polish relations? What do I need to do? The version with the fifth partition of Poland is not accepted.

There is no reason for the normalization of relations between Russia and Poland. Moreover, it largely depends on the United States. Perhaps the situation could be different if we had sufficiently weighty topics for the bilateral agenda. But they are not - neither in the economy, nor in politics. At the same time, we cannot be completely neutral towards each other, and this leaves room only for political squabbles and negativity.

European country?

Poland considers itself the leader of Eastern Europe. But do Eastern Europeans consider it as such?

Initially, it was only ambition. Moreover, at one time Poland even found itself isolated among the countries of the Visegrad Group. But now the situation is different and Polish leadership is undeniable. And this is not only a consequence of Poland's economic successes or, for example, the fact that it has an army that is larger than the combined armies of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. Largely due to the Polish activity, they staked on it in Washington, Berlin and Brussels. And now it will be interesting to watch the development of events, given that Kaczynski and his young comrades have become a headache for their former European allies.

Former allies make it clear that Poland under the Kaczynskis is going somewhere in the wrong direction. So they admitted that Poland never became a responsible member of the EU?

It is difficult to talk about responsible EU members now, when every European country is ready to take care only of its own interests. For example, can the UK be called a responsible member of the EU? She never was one, but everyone was obliged to respect the British and listen to their opinion. Now Poland openly aligns itself with British demands for EU reform, and this is an additional test for Brussels. But to present the situation exclusively in dark colors, as they like to do with us, is absolutely not worth it. As soon as the Bundestag mentioned the possibility of sanctions against Poland, we all froze in anticipation of the punishment of the Poles. No, nothing critical has happened yet and, it seems to me, will not happen. The conflict with Brussels, or rather with the current composition of European officials, does not mean a crisis in relations with other European countries. And if we talk about neighbors in the region, then Poland has every chance to lead the flank of the Eurosceptics. As for relations with Germany, the Poles now allow themselves a demonstration of independence, politicians are entering into heated polemics, but in reality, no fundamental revision of relations between the two countries has taken place. I think that the normalization of relations will take place even before the new elections to the Bundestag, which will be held in September 2017. Although, of course, they will not be as deliberately warm and full of mutual compliments as before.