Ukraine: Zelensky on a visit to Poland wants to reinflate a first-rate alliance

Polish President Andrzej Duda shakes hands with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, May 22, 2022 in Kiev. AFP - SERGEI SUPINSKY

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Volodymyr Zelensky goes this Wednesday, April 5 to his great Polish ally. For the first time since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian president will be in Warsaw for talks with the Polish government. Martin Chabal, RFI's correspondent in the country, explains why this moment is important for the two partners, between whom relations have been able to strain recently.

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Volodymyr Zelensky's visit on 5th April is highly symbolic, when we know how Poland is struggling to help its neighbour in the conflict with Russia, notably by having opened its arms to millions of refugees...

This is one of the main reasons for the Ukrainian president's visit: to thank the Poles for their immeasurable help. And continue to reassure his compatriots in exile. We are talking about almost a million people who still enjoy Poland's temporary protection. Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to meet Ukrainians directly at home or in the last shelters that are still open in Warsaw. Others will be able to come and listen to the president's message broadcast on a giant screen in the city center, where Polish and Ukrainian flags are expected to be seen waving together.

Also listen: Poland wants to take care of Ukrainian children

This is a message that Poles are used to hearing. Joe Biden, the US president, had already thanked the gratitude of the Polish people when he visited in February. But it seems important that the Ukrainian President himself comes here to Warsaw to send this message. The latest polls show that the positive attitude of Poles towards refugees is waning. It remains of course clearly above all European countries, but Volodymyr Zelensky's message could stimulate a little solidarity between Poles and Ukrainians.

In recent weeks the discord surrounding the influx of Ukrainian cereals into Poland has not helped to warm relations between the two countries...

This is a point that should be raised during the visit. Farmers have shown their anger in recent days, because Ukrainian grain passes through Poland before being exported to Africa and the Middle East. But many of these goods remain blocked in Poland end up on the local market and this lowers the price of Polish products. According to farmers, aid to Ukraine penalizes their work and their daily lives. Especially since inflation, which has been rising since the beginning of the war, is also attributed to the conflict in Ukraine.

Read also: Why Eastern European economies suffer more from the war in Ukraine

The government began a plan to end the crisis last week, because many farmers regularly blocked roads between Poland and Ukraine to prevent Ukrainian trucks full of grain from crossing the border. It is therefore an opportunity to sit around a table and find a solution that would go as much to Poland as to Ukraine.

Read also: The countries bordering Ukraine, importers "forced" cereals

One imagines that Volodymyr Zelensky should also tighten military relations with Poland a little more?

Since the beginning of the war, Poland has been at the forefront of military aid for its neighbor. She sent a lot of her own material. Recently, it transferred MiG-29 aircraft to Kiev. It was the first country to send fighter jets to deal with the Russian invasion. It also put pressure on Germany for a long time to send Leopard tanks. This weekend of April 1-2, Ukraine also placed an order with Poland for 100 Rozomak military transport vehicles, which it will produce in the coming months.

Even so, many observers believe it is unlikely that new contracts will be signed today. We still expect announcements around cooperation between the two countries. On the reconstruction of the country for example, but also on more burning issues such as membership of NATO and the European Union, where Poland has become a key player in recent months.

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Read on on the same topics:

  • Poland
  • Ukraine
  • Volodymyr Zelensky
  • Andrzej Duda
  • Diplomacy
  • European Union
  • NATO
  • Russia