Warszawa – Kijów – Budapeszt Stosunki polsko-ukraińskie w XX wieku z węgierskiego punktu widzenia

Abstrakt

The Poles and the Ukrainians in the 20^th century history had several political and ethnical conflicts, confrontations (Polish-Ukrainian war in Galicia in 1918–1919, massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia carried out by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army during WWII, forced displacement of the Ukrainian minority in Poland in 1947), but reconciliation processes determined the events of the last quarter century. After gaining independence, the bloody conflicts of the last century could not be tools in politics in both Poland and Ukraine. Moreover, many common projects have been started since 1991. The Poles in the post-independence period showed appropriate empathy to their eastern neighbours’ problems (development of national identity and state-building) and were proactive during this period in improving Polish-Ukrainian relations. The article intends to show that in the Central European region it is possible to conduct dialogue, achieve reconciliation between two neighbouring countries, show openness to this dialogue (with ourselves and with our neighbours), and manage the potential conflicts during these process. What is more, consistent behaviour of decision-makers (in political and civil sphere) was present in the past quarter century in the Polish-Ukrainian relations and was largely absent from Hungarian-Slovak, Hungarian-Romanian, Hungarian-Serbian, or Hungarian-Ukrainian relations.