A Concept of “Intermarium” in the Foreign Policy of Poland

The paper tackles the problem of the most important Polish geopolitical concept - “Intermarium” (“Międzymorze”). The attention was paid to the historical roots, the evolution in the mid-war period and after WWII. It also discusses the current state of this conception and its links with a project “Three seas’ initiative”, actively run by Polish authorities since 2016. The paper consists of four main chapters. It starts with presenting scientific roots of the “Intermarium”, that was developed at the beginning of the XX century by a famous geographer Eugeniusz Romer and included in Polish political discourse in the mid-war period. The “Inermarium” was planned to be an alliance of Central European countries to oppose the influences of stronger neighboring countries - the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Then the paper discusses the concept of “ULB”, that in the period of “cold war” to some extend revived the concept of Intermarium”. Authors of the “ULB” Jerzy Giedroyc and Juliusz Mieroszewski paid particular attention to the reconciliation and mutual understanding among nations of Central and Eastern Europe. Consecutively, the paper discusses the current state of “Intermarium”. Under the national-conservative government of the Law and Justice Party, since 2016 this concept is for the first time in its history implemented as an official part of Poland’s foreign policy. However, there are significant changes in the concept, starting with its name - “Three seas initiative”, that refers to Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas. Within the concept, Poland is strengthening relations with other countries of Central Europe. Therefore, it can be understood as a new “North-South” geopolitical axis, that, to some extent should replace an “East-West” geopolitical axis, that for ages has played a crucial role in Polish foreign policy. The final conclusion of the paper is that currently Poland’s geopolitical interests are evolving into the North-South axis and the Eastern direction is losing its previous importance. Nevertheless, the future success or failure of the implementation of the concept will depend on the involvement of other Central European countries as well as of the interests of external political actors (USA, Russia).

Geopolitical Importance of the Intermarium in Polish-Turkish Relations

Currently, the Republic of Türkiye increasingly claims to be a regional leader and simultaneously tries to strengthen its influence on world politics using its advantageous geopolitical position at the crossroads of important international roads. For historical reasons, Poland occupies a unique place on the map of Europe. It is a regional centre of political contacts, a state integrating with the West and open to cooperation with the East, and having a real opportunity to modify these relations precisely because of its geopolitical potential. Türkiye and Poland remain hostages of geopolitics and history in their respective regions. It is also evidenced by the activity, goals, and interests of the foreign policy pursued by these countries. Nevertheless, one of the current geopolitical projects implemented by Poland in Europe is the “Intermarium”. It is a bloc of anti-Russian states in the area from the Baltic to the Black Sea. In front of this reality, it is substantial to pose the following question: Why does Türkiye need the Intermarium bloc? Although Türkiye does not officially appear to be in this union, it is certain that it is in a state of cooperation. Türkiye is trying to establish a South-North economic-military axis in the Black Sea-Baltic region. Parallelly, Ankara sells weapons, such as Bayraktar TB2 attack UAVs, to Poland and Ukraine. Also, Türkiye signs military agreements with these countries. The study analyses the improvement of the Polish geopolitical idea of Intermarium. Furthermore, it deals with the role that Türkiye will play in the Intermarium project.