Moscow is losing more than we due to the lack of Polish-Russian dialogue, – the observer says.
After the August meeting with Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron said he believes in Europe from Lisbon to Vladivostok. A few days later, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö met with Putin and expressed concern about plans to deploy US medium-range missiles in Europe. And although then the most important European leaders said that there is no way to extend the “G7” to Russia, the West is talking less and less about the isolation of Moscow and increasingly wants to talk to it.
What does Poland say? Despite the recent meeting between Minister Jacek Chaputovic and Sergey Lavrov, nothing has changed in this matter. Poland, since it had terrible relations with Moscow, still has them. The last summit between the two countries took place almost nine years ago. After the annexation of Crimea by Russia, contacts were mostly frozen, and Poland even refused a small border movement with Kaliningrad. According to Minister Chaputovich, “Russia has not changed its policy towards Ukraine, the democratic opposition, or the INF agreement” (INF is an agreement on the withdrawal of medium-range missiles – ed.), Therefore, there can be no breakthrough in bilateral relations.
Thus, the situation is such that when Germany, France and other important European players talk with Russia, we refuse any contact. Where Merkel and Macron — despite their fundamental disagreement with the Kremlin’s actions — seek a replacement for the agreement, we block all attempts at dialogue. At the same time, we forget that dialogue and the desire for harmony always meet the interests of small countries such as Poland, because confrontation with the powerful never means anything good to them.
In turn, whether we are right in our various disputes with Russia is of secondary importance from the point of view of state interests. The final effect is important, that is, can we maintain even the right relationships with a large and important neighbor. If we cannot, this is primarily our problem, because Russia is losing much less due to the lack of good relations than we are. It should be extremely important for Poland to speak with the Kremlin, because this is the only way to reduce tensions in bilateral relations and thereby reduce our sense of threat.
Contrary to appearances, such efforts should not be tantamount to a rejection of European values or a passion for Putin’s policies. On the contrary, the desire for an agreement on complex issues and the development of mechanisms for their peaceful settlement are European in spirit and are consistent with the promise of peace, which after the Second World War formed the basis of the European Community. Therefore, the consistent rejection of this culture of dialogue is not only a cardinal strategic mistake, but also an increasingly prominent symbol of Poland’s withdrawal from the West and its civilizational achievements. The sooner we change this attitude, the better – for Poland and Europe.