Polityka Francji i Niemiec wobec niepodległej Ukrainy. Wokół stabilizacji i bezpieczeństwa

Abstract

This essay provides the shaping of the leading EU countries’ policy towards independent Ukraine. It examines that it was influenced by several factors: including the history of relations between each country with the Russian Empire and the USSR, and the lack of experience in cooperation with Ukraine as an independent state, and geopolitical interests of each state. The German political circles and the media as well as the French ones have been expressed their concern over the possible proliferation of nuclear weapons by Ukraine, which in turn has led to political and economic pressure on Ukraine’s stance on its nuclear status. The essay proves that the issue of nuclear technologies was not limited to the discussion of the former existence of a nuclear arsenal in Ukraine. France and Germany take an active part in the activities in the Chernobyl zone. Leading EU countries in the 1990s hoped there will be democratic changes in Russia, transparency and the development of civil society. Ukraine’s multi-vector policy was incomprehensible to Western countries, as was the security vacuum felt by Ukraine, which was gradually trapped in the geopolitical grip of two defense blocs: NATO in the West and Collective Security Treaty Organisation (Tashkent Pact) in the East. Since 2014, France and Germany have been mediators in the resolution of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in Donbas in the framework of Normandy format, but so far there is no progress in resolving this low-intensity conflict.