Polish ex-MFA criticises Tusk's government for ‘hyena policy’ towards Ukraine

In his column, Jacek Chaputowicz, Poland's Foreign Minister in 2018-2020 and a professor at the University of Warsaw, criticised the actions of Donald Tusk's government towards Ukraine, calling them ‘hyena policy’.

Source: ‘Yevropeiska Pravda with reference to Rzeczpospolita.

Chaputovych's direct speech: ‘When a year ago I described PiS's foreign policy towards Ukraine and the Volyn issue as a ‘hyena policy’, I did not expect that under the new government it would gain the status of a state policy. What used to be shameful has become a manifestation of political realism.’

Chaputovych noted that while earlier statements were made at the level of the deputy foreign minister, now Prime Minister Tusk and Deputy Prime Minister Kosinyak-Kamysh have said that without resolving historical disputes with Poland, Ukraine may have problems joining the EU.

The former minister explained that by ‘hyena politics’ he meant attempts to take advantage of the opponent's vulnerable position to achieve one's own goals. He recalled the events of 1938, when Poland forced Czechoslovakia to cede the Transdanubia on the back of the Munich Agreement, and a year later was attacked by Nazi Germany.

‘The actions of a hyena can give the bear an advantage - let's hope we don't have to face it and pray that others don't apply such a policy to us,’ Chaputovych said.

Author - Olena Madiak, 18/09/2024