Ukraine prepares new approach to restore trust of Polish society - media

The Office of the President of Ukraine is developing a plan to improve the perception of Ukraine in Poland and restore trust between the societies. The main tool of the new policy is to be public diplomacy, reports Polish outlet Dziennik Gazeta Prawna citing its own sources.

According to the newspaper, Kyiv wants primarily to work with that part of Polish society that maintains a favorable attitude towards Ukraine. The plan reportedly provides for initiatives that will remind of the Russian threat to Europe and historical examples of Ukrainian-Polish cooperation.

Among such examples, the publication names the alliance of Symon Petliura and Józef Piłsudski against the Bolsheviks, as well as the participation of Ukrainians in the defense of Poland in 1939. A separate direction is to be the deepening of cooperation with Polish business, expert community, and mass media.

DGP also claims that Ukrainian services may seek evidence of possible Russian funding of anti-Ukrainian circles in Poland. The publication did not provide specific confirmation of this statement.

What scenarios were discussed in Kyiv

According to Polish journalists, the Office of the President considered three options for further policy towards Poland. The first involved active use of public diplomacy. The newspaper attributes authorship of this approach to Deputy Head of the Office of the President Iryna Vereshchuk.

The second option was to wait until the deterioration of attitudes towards Ukraine in Poland loses its acuteness. The third scenario involved moving bilateral disputes to the level of European Union institutions. According to DGP, in the end public diplomacy was preferred.

The implementation of the plan may be complicated by agricultural disputes. Negotiations are underway in Kyiv on increasing the transit of Ukrainian grain through Poland, and reports about them have already caused concern among Polish farmers.

Earlier, Ukraine offered Poland an anti-crisis package that provided for consultations between ministries, meetings of historians, and involvement of religious leaders in bilateral dialogue.

The Office of the President of Ukraine has not publicly confirmed the scenarios described by the Polish publication and has not announced the approval of the relevant strategy.

Based on materials: Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, Polskie Radio 24