Dubious traditions
The PiS, the Kresy and ethnonationalism
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Poland is undergoing profound changes with regard to its policy towards eastern Europe. The Law and Justice party (PiS) is abandoning the concept that has been state policy since 1989. In the past, the core principle has been that Poland’s freedom depends on the sovereignty of Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus, that Poland supports their democratisation, processes its own hegemonial traditions and pursues a policy of reconciliation. Now, a renaissance of the myth surrounding the Polish eastern territories (Kresy) can be observed. The PiS is borrowing from the ethnonational, polonocentric ideas of the inter-war years. This history policy, as well as the reevaluation of the Volhynia massacre, are putting a strain on relations with Ukraine in particular.
(Osteuropa 3-5/2018, pp. 495–518)