DISINFO: In Ukraine, Poland implements the strategy of the “Polish World” through labour migration
SUMMARY
An important element of the Polish strategy [towards Ukraine] is the formation of new substitute citizenship - the Pole's Card. This policy turned out to be very effective – Poland is perceived as a country where the issues of Central and Western Ukraine are solved on a level comparable to the Kyiv authorities. There is also a large flow of labour migration from Ukraine to Poland – these people are composed of not only farmworkers but also high-skilled specialists (teachers, doctors, engineers). All this suggests that Poland de facto implements the strategy of the "Polish World".
RESPONSE
This message is a part of the pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign about Polish-Ukrainian relations and alleged Polish “expansionism”.
The claim that Poland implements a strategy of the “Polish World” is unfounded. The attempt to “invent” an imaginary concept of the “Polish World” may be used by the pro-Kremlin media for the ideological justification of the existence of the “Russian World”, which is a nationalist geopolitical concept giving ground to the Russian expansionism in the post-Soviet sphere.
Poland fully supports the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, it does not have any territorial claims against its neighbours and it rejects any “imperial” ambitions towards other countries. Read more about the Eastern policy of Poland here.
The Pole’s Card is not a “substitute citizenship”, but an instrument used to support the Poles living abroad, facilitating their visits and possible migration to Poland.
See other cases accusing Poland of “expansionism”: Poland plans to colonise Belarus, calling this process “European integration” and the “EU Eastern Partnership”; Polish authorities are obsessed with an idea of reconstruction of a modern Polish Empire and The Giedroyc doctrine is an edition of the Polish imperialism.