#1_1-8

WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
DAY AFTER DAY No.1 JANUARY 16, 2018 3
agreement on 11 million migrants.
This is the most powerful agreement
that can be achieved. There
is still no certainty that this will
happen, but it is a realistic
prospect now. And this is so serious
that we are seeing changes in
the positions of the conservatives,
in their approaches to this issue,
there are some disappointments.
For example, most likely, Steve
Bannon’s strong career is over, as
he has been removed from an editorial
position in his Breitbart
News magazine. In general, all
these events indicate that the US
government is looking for new solutions
to domestic policy issues;
it now needs to achieve some positive
results, and the situation is
being used by both parties to address
issues that have been pressing
over recent years. It must be
understood that this is happening
in America, a nation of immigrants.
That is, this issue is of
great concern to many.”
US media have started to discuss
possible presidential ambitions
of TV host Oprah Winfrey. In
addition, the White House has
confirmed that president Trump
will take part in the 2020 presidential
election. What does such
news mean?
“Of course, 2020 is still a long
way off. However, Winfrey’s
speeches touch upon the most
pressing issues on America’s agenda,
including sexual harassment,
support for the feminist movement,
and protests against racial
discrimination, as she is African
American. She embodies those political
issues that are now the talk
of the country.
“Particular attention is also
drawn to this issue due to the fact
that, although the presidential
election will take place in 2020, the
midterm congressional election
will occur in 2018. Both parties
will compete to shape the political
agenda for the midterm election.
They are looking for leaders who
will be able to help them achieve
positive results. For the Democrats,
this is a moment when they
can reform and tune in for a new
leader.”
journalism in Ukraine. Perhaps it is
not good enough for such a great
country as ours. But it did and does
exist. It comes with uneven quality
and quantity, but it does exist due to
the fact that there are true authorities
who learn themselves and teach
others,” she said. According to the
editor-in-chief, the publication of
Den’s Library books – Two Rus’es;
Wars and Peace, or Ukrainians and
Poles: Brothers/Enemies, Neighbors;
The Power of the Soft Sign; Return
to Tsarhorod; My Sister Sofia... – “all
hold the perimeter of our international
relations.” “Instead of the
state and the ‘grant society,’ it is us
who do something that then comes to
define a new cultural policy in
20 years,” Ivshyna emphasized.
“Creative and professional atmosphere
prevalent in the newspaper
Den is an incentive for highquality
international journalism,”
Mykola Siruk noted in turn.
The Ukrainian Prism Foreign
Policy Council is a network of nongovernmental
think-tanks whose
purpose is to participate in the establishment
of democratic foundations
for the development and implementation
of foreign and security
policies by state authorities of
Ukraine, implementation of international
and national projects and
programs aimed at improving foreign
policy analysis and expertise,
and strengthening the participation
of the expert community in the decision-making
process in the fields
of foreign policy, international relations,
and public diplomacy.
By Natalia PUSHKARUK, The Day
The Polish government saw a
sweeping reshuffle recently.
As Prime Minister Beata
Szydlo resigned on December
7, Mateusz Morawiecki
was appointed to this office. He has
decided only now to make changes in
the Polish Cabinet of Ministers.
Gazeta Wyborcza has published
the new Cabinet lineup. In particular,
Poland’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs is now headed by Jacek Czaputowicz,
until recently a deputy
minister. He replaced Witold
Waszczykowski who went on record
as making many harsh statements
about Ukraine. Mariusz Blaszczak
and Joachim Brudzinski became
ministers of defense (instead of Antoni
Macierewicz) and of the interior
(instead of Mariusz Blaszczak),
respectively. The ministers of the
environment, public health, and finance
were also replaced.
The Day requested some Polish
and Ukrainian experts to explain
what the reshuffle will lead to and
what it means for Poland, the EU,
and Ukraine.
● “THE CURRENT CHANGES IN
THE GOVERNMENT MAINLY
FOCUS ON THE DOMESTIC
MARKET AND RELATIONS
WITH THE EU AND NATO”
Michal KOBOSKO, director, Poland
office, US Atlantic Council:
“What has occurred in Warsaw
is a really serious and sweeping governmental
reshuffle. We did not
expect so many changes. Only yesterday
we expected three or four
misters to be replaced.
“Some important offices, such
as foreign and defense ministers,
will be held by other people. I think
these changes are the most important
because, from the international
viewpoint, these officials are responsible
for foreign policy and national
defense. It is really important.
Antoni Macierewicz was a very
controversial minister of national
defense. Many people thought that
Mr. Kaczynski would not be strong
enough to dismiss Mr. Macierewicz.
In all probability, Polish President
Andrzej Duda demanded that the
defense minister be dismissed because
there was a never-ending conflict
between the president and
Mr. Macierewicz. So it is a very positive
signal for President Duda who
is commander-in-chief of the Polish
armed forces.
“But this reshuffle leaves a lot of
questions unanswered. Antoni
Macierewicz is a strong personality
The Day’s experts comment
on Polish government reshuffle
REUTERS photo
Positive steps
who holds strong positions inside the
ruling PiS [Law and Justice. – Ed.]
party. I don’t know what offer was
made to Mr. Macierewicz. I think
they will offer him something in parliament
or some other official position
because he may come into a new
conflict with Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
He was dismissed today, and it is
important information for the ministry
of national defense and the
Polish army, where there are a lot of
internal conflicts. Minister Macierewicz
fired a lot of generals – a
third of general’s positions have
been vacant in the Polish army in the
past few months. The new defense
minister is to fill these vacancies.
“Another major replacement is
the minister of foreign affairs. Minister
Waszczykowski was in conflict
with many other ministers, countries,
and especially with the EU. He
was very controversial and provocative
in his interviews. And although
he is an experienced Polish diplomat,
he failed to shape his own policy
instead of pursuing the foreign
policy of Mr. Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
“So I think it is good news that
Minister Waszczykowski has left office.
We don’t know so far how the
new foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz
will fare, whether he will
be different in his first steps, decisions,
and statements because, after
all, it is Jaroslaw Kaczynski who
makes final foreign-policy decisions.
“As for the Polish-Ukrainian
relations, President Duda recently
paid a successful visit to Kharkiv
and had a good meeting with President
Poroshenko. We hope this is a
chance to turn over a new leaf. I’d
like the new foreign minister Czaputowicz
to make a statement that
will normalize our relations. I cannot
be sure that this will happen.
We don’t know yet what kind of
foreign policy this new government
will pursue and whether it will differ
considerably from that of the
previous cabinet. So far, I can hear
no angry reports that signalize that
Poland is going to speak with
Ukraine in a new manner and there
will be some breakthrough again.
“In its foreign policy, the previous
government did not seem to
show much interest in Ukraine.
Now I think that Prime Minister
Morawiecki is aware of how important
it is for Poland to maintain
good working relations with Kyiv
and that he will pay a visit to Kyiv
in the near future.
“The current changes in the government
mainly focus on the domestic
market and Poland’s relations
with the EU and NATO. This explains
the replacement of the ministers
of foreign affairs and the environment
– Minister Szyszko lost his
office because the EU criticized him
openly and harshly. The minister of
defense, whom NATO criticized for
being problematic, was also dismissed.
“As for a likely change in the
Poland-EU relations, the first
step will be taken this evening
[January 9. – Ed.] – Prime Minister
Morawiecki is leaving for Brussels
to meet Jean-Claude Juncker and
Frans Timmermans in the European
Commission. They will be discussing
the debates on Article 7 the
EC initiated before Christmas.
Mr. Morawiecki will be discussing
with EU officials whether Poland
will obey EU regulations and meet
its expectations, observe the rule of
law – the things that stirred up biting
EU criticism. It will be difficult
for Prime Minister Morawiecki to
change anything in Brussels. I am
sure he will use the cabinet reshuffle
to convince our European
friends that Poland is doing the
needful and making important
changes in the government. It is a
signal to Brussels that Poland
wants to cooperate more closely
with European institutions. It is
common knowledge in Brussels
that, unfortunately, Premier
Morawiecki is not the one who
makes final decisions. He is not
flexible enough, but he is free to
deal with any matters, including
Poland’s relations with the EU.
“The old government had
two years to closely cooperate with
European institutions, but this
time was wasted. It is important
that there have been some
changes. At the same time, it is
difficult to believe that the new
government will radically change
its policy in the relations with
Brussels. I don’t expect many
great changes. I can expect that
the tone of discussions will be
slightly different. But we cannot
expect any major changes until
Mr. Kaczynski changes his opinion
about the EU.”
● “WE CAN EXPECT SOBER
AND BALANCED
DECISIONS”
Oksana YURYNETS, co-chairperson,
Group for Inter-Parliamentary Ties
with the Republic of Poland; Member
of the Ukrainian Parliament:
“This reshuffle is a very positive
thing. Mr. Waszczykowski
used to make all kinds of statements
and things that were unclear
to and unacceptable for
Ukraine. The situation is different
now, and changes have been made.
We can surely forecast that there
will be a new positive demand for
international relations, particularly
in the context of Ukraine and
Poland.
“The newly-appointed foreign
minister is a career diplomat who is
not too much politicized and is taking
a pacifist attitude. He carved
out his career gradually. It seems to
me that now we can expect to see
very sound diplomatic steps, sober
and balanced decisions – the things
that we need today.
“As for expectations, we should
take into account that Poland is a
parliamentary-presidential republic,
where people can be MPs and
deputy ministers at the same time.
Therefore, it may be easier for our
group to pay visits of friendship
and hold an assembly. This foreign
policy should be pursued in the
shape of correct and well-balanced
diplomatic steps, which both the
Polish and the Ukrainian sides
need.
“Of course, we expect to make a
fresh positive start. For the Polish-
Ukrainian Assembly, scheduled for
December 11-12, was canceled because
there was a government
reshuffle and some MPs were also
busy as cabinet members. I hope
the group will resume work this
year. The group is chaired by the
parliament vice-speaker on our
part and the Sejm deputy speaker
on their part. Incidentally, Mykola
Kniazhytskyi, the co-chairman,
and I sent an inquiry of our friendship
group to Warsaw almost two
months ago, and we are still waiting
for an answer. Maybe, some direction
of strategic communication
with Ukraine will be found right
now. I am convinced that we will
never fall apart, and we need communication,
a dialog, today in order
to fill the vacuum, which has
formed in the past few months,
with information. Besides, it is
good that the presidents of Poland
and Ukraine made a constructive
visit to Kharkiv. They drew up a
certain road map, and parliament
and the Cabinet should now set
such new and extremely important
directions of work as cooperation
within the limits of Euro-regions
and cross-border cooperation.
Poland is a strategic EU country,
in fact our gate to Europe, so there
are very many things to do. For
this reason, changes in other ministries
are equally crucial, for this
will help find out what is to be done
if a proper international policy is
pursued. There is very much work
to do, and the guidelines for the
next year were in fact drawn up at
the end of the last one.”