The EU has been consistently making its way to introduction of visa-free regime for Ukraine and on April 6, 2017, the relevant decision was supported by 521 MPs of the European parliament. However Poland interpreted the abolition of visas in its own way. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland reported on its official page in Twitter that since June 11 (the approximate date of the decision on visa-free regime with Ukraine to come into force) the crossing of the border between Poland and Ukraine will be closed for the Ukrainians engaged in the Donbass conflict.

This restriction comes into obvious collision with the common European norms and the decision on visa-free regime with Ukraine signed on May 17 by Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament, and Carmelo Abela, Minister for Home Affairs of Malta presiding in the Council of the European Union. Any Ukrainian citizen in possession of a biometric passport, a definite sum of money, data of his bank account, and verified ID must be allowed into Poland. Involvement in war hostilities in eastern Ukraine is no reason to ban Ukrainian citizens from entering the EU countries. Thus the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland publicly abandons the foreign policy line of the EU and poisons the long awaited pleasure for the Ukrainians, the loosening up of visa regime. Many western trips of the Ukrainian citizens rather often originate in Poland. Now tens thousands of law-abiding Ukrainians will be just unable to enter Europe.

It’s not the first time that Poland has refused to follow common European agreements questioning the EU authority in Eastern Europe. The actual sabotage by Warsaw of visa-free regime for Ukrainians is just in the row with other irrelevancies, such as refusal to welcome the Middle East refugees due to the “terrorist threat” they pose, or demonstrative obstruction of the European Council work after the reelection of Donald Tusk, the political opponent of the Polish ruling Law and Justice party. One shouldn’t confuse the EU desire to take into consideration the national agendas with the momentary gambling of Jaroslaw Kaczynski employing quite doubtful methods both in fighting domestic political rivals and in attempts to secure Poland’s leading role in Europe. For instance, the existing differences of Polish and European laws in fiscal and social spheres are already provoking economic imbalance in the EU. Poland ignores basic European values being captivated with the political blackmailing and instigating centrifugal forces in the EU right at the moment when the European Union badly needs unity and joint effort to overcome common European problems.

In this context the position of the German leaders, as well as that of the new President of France, set to impose legal and economic sanctions on Poland looks quite logical. Such a possibility is envisaged by Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union. The sanctions may be implemented in the form of subsidy cuts or refusal to transfer production facilities from Central Europe into Polish cities. These sanctions against Poland are needed not so much to “bring up” Polish politicians as to save economy and secure political stability of modern Europe.