The contemporary Polish-Ukrainian borderland – its political and national aspect

Abstract

During several years the Polish-Ukrainian border was the barrier which strictly separated Polish and Ukrainian nation, as well as the area of the borderland. The situation changed for better after the fall of the communism. The Polish-Ukrainian borderland has visibly livened up, not only in econo-mically but also culturally. The border started to unite both sides of border-land. The numerous transborder contacts between Poles and Ukrainians, both on regional and local level led to establishment of the community which has the permanent contact with Polish and Ukrainian population, culture and language. After the accession of Poland to the Schengen area these contacts were inhibited by new regulations. In 2008 the authorities of both states signed the agreement on the local border traffic. Hopefully this agreement will soon come into force and allow to recover the former level of transborder contacts but also will soften the negative effects the external EU border exerts on the borderland.In national respect the Polish-Ukrainian borderland underwent a sub-stantial change during last several years. For hundreds of years it was a typical borderland, that is borderland between communities related in terms of linguistic and ethnic aspects, with very large territorial extent where cultural elements of both nations interpenetrated. However as a consequence of armed conflicts, political transformations, resettlements of population and the division of the borderland by the interstate border, the traditional character of this borderland was destroyed. Nevertheless, it is still an area inhabited by national minorities living here for ages, linguistically and culturally related. Small in number, territorially dispersed, they constitute a marginal part of the borderland population dominated by the "state nation". It has implications for the character of the borderland which nowadays is political rather than national borderland. In all respects – ethnic, religious, cultural, political, economic – the present borderland is divided in two clearly separated parts: Polish and Ukrainian, remaining under the predominant influence of two political, economic and cultural centres.