The Belarusian putsch has become indicative – what is the key paradox of Poland’s imperial ambitions

Polish elites yearn for the spread of their power “from sea to sea”, but all their attempts are in vain because of several obstacles.

As News Front previously reported, the so-called Lublin Triangle – an alliance between Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine – emerged in 2020. The countries have pledged to cooperate in the military, economic, social and political spheres.

This alliance is not the first initiative of Poland, which is a key beneficiary of the alliance. For years, Warsaw has been discussing the Inter-Maritime Union, a project of a confederation that would include Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and possibly Finland. The name is explained by the fact that the association will extend from the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea to the Baltic Sea.

Both concepts share the desire of Warsaw, which considers itself a regional leader, to revive the once-existing Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

“The idea of the Inter-Sea is the creation of a sufficiently strong space, because the peoples within it do not have the capacity to counter threats from Russia”, – said Romuald Sheremetyev, Poland’s former defence minister.

But Poland’s imperial ambitions clash with a lack of imperial resources, political analyst Gevorg Mirzayan is convinced. In an interview with Ukraina.ru, he noted that the Inter-Sea project looks good only “on paper”. In practice, the Polish authorities lack the common sense to comply with the set goals.

“They are unable to implement even an attempt at an imperial policy, they are unable to strengthen Poland. They are only weakening it. They have put Poland at odds with the European Union and brought discord to Polish society with their conservative ideas”, –  the expert explains.

In particular, he drew attention to the developments in Belarus where pro-Western putschists have been trying to overthrow the legitimate government for several months. It was Poland that was initially working on the coup in Belarus, hoping to increase its influence on the neighboring country. Eventually, Lithuania took the initiative.