Evolution of the policy of Poland and Lithuania towards Belarus: reasons and prerequisites

  • Vsevolod V. Shimov Institute of Europe, Russian Academy of Sciences, 11 Mokhovaya Street, 3v building, Moscow 125009, Russia

Abstract

The article analyses the evolution of foreign policy approaches of Poland and Lithuania towards Belarus. It is shown that the attitude of Polish politicians towards the Belarusian national movement and the very idea of Belarusian statehood has changed significantly from active rejection to willingness to use it to their advantage. The article shows that Poland’s modern foreign policy approaches to Belarus are based on the Giedroyc-Mieroszewski doctrine and imply the establishment of soft ideological, political, cultural and economic dominance of Poland in the former lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth without formally changing the existing borders. It is noted that the effectiveness of methods of Polish foreign policy towards Belarus turns out to be quite low due to the peculiarities of the Belarusian political system. It is shown that Lithuania’s policy towards Belarus largely repeats Poland’s actions, but Vilnius acts more as a competitor to Warsaw and seeks to use its influence on Belarus to create a geopolitical counterweight to Polish dominance in Eastern Europe.

Author Biography

Vsevolod V. Shimov, Institute of Europe, Russian Academy of Sciences, 11 Mokhovaya Street, 3v building, Moscow 125009, Russia

PhD (political sciences), docent; senior researcher at the center for Belarusian studies, department of social and political studies

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Published
2024-11-27
Keywords: Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Eastern Europe, foreign policy, nationalism
Supporting Agencies The work was carried out within the framework of the state assignment of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (research work «System analysis of economic and political risks and opportunities of the Baltic-Scandinavian microregion», state registration No. FMZS-2024-0013).
How to Cite
Shimov, V. V. (2024). Evolution of the policy of Poland and Lithuania towards Belarus: reasons and prerequisites. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology, 4, 68-74. Retrieved from https://journals.bsu.by/index.php/sociology/article/view/6668
Issue
No 4 (2024): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology
Section
To Know so that to Foresee...

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