The article concentrates on the orange revolution which took place at the end of 2004 in Ukraine, with special attention paid to the socio-cultural aspect of this event (its political side is treated marginally here). In the analysis, the Polish perspective in looking at the revolution was taken, which means that the author is interested in the reasons why Poles became so engaged in what was happening there. At the same time the article aims at outlining the history of Poles' attitudes towards Ukrainians, which seems to be a good starting point for analyses of Poles' solidarity manifested then. The orange revolution itself is presented here as a train of events which can symbolically assume the shape of drama. The sphere of culture constitutes also a background against which Julia Timoshenko (at the time when the article was finished - the Ukrainian prime minister) was described. This, by the way, gives us a chance to look critically at the ways some politicians tend to present themselves. The article points at some aspects of the Ukrainian reality which could be taken into account while discussing the country's and its people's civilisational orientation, especially in the context of Poland's ambition to be an architect of the so-called EU Eastern policy. It is an important aspect of the revolution, too.
The article focuses on certain socio-political developments across Poland's eastern border (among others - the so-called orange revolution in Ukraine or Russia's policy towards its western neighbours), which occasion another - to all likelihood not the last - debate on the character of Central Europe. The Commonwealth of Four Nations which appears in the title, is conceived of in highly abstract and symbolic terms, and has the function of a 'keystone' for a similar situation or similar problems faced by Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, which does not mean that this 'construct' is free from social tensions. The central European context includes also the issue of different visions of history among the old and new members of the European Union. In connection with a lack of clear stance on the part of the EU on cultural issues this significantly complicates the creation on purely social grounds of a common plane for the prospective European identity.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.