Poland’s Policy Regarding the United Kingdom
Poland’s Policy Regarding the United Kingdom

Summary/Abstract: The prime factors determining Poland’s policy regarding the UK include both countries’ membership in the EU and NATO and Polish citizens’ economic migration to the UK. Bilateral relations are also influenced by major differences in both partners’ potentials—economic (the UK is among the world’s top industrialized countries) as well as political (the UK holds a permanent seat on the UN Security Council). In the context of efforts to strengthen Poland’s international position, the UK was viewed by the Polish authorities as a key partner in NATO and the EU, as reflected in the conviction about maintaining privileged bilateral relations based on a “community of interests” and “significant concurrence of views.”1 The foundations on which to build a “special partnership” were seen in, for instance, both countries’ engagement in Iraq in 2003 or the UK’s support for EU enlargement and country’s opening of its labour market to citizens of new EU member states in 2004. Opinions were even formulated about a possible broadening of the Weimar Triangle formula to include the UK, too.2 Separate mention is due to World War II cooperation, commemorated in the establishment in 2000 of a Polish-British Historical Commission and the presentation of a 2005 report documenting collaboration in the field of intelligence.

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