“To Whom the Sirens Wail.” Poland’s Post-2022 Geopolitical Debates on Central and “Eastern Europe”

Abstract

The article conducts a social constructivist analysis of the post-2022 debate in Poland to trace how the geopolitical notions of “Central” and “Eastern” Europe have been affected by the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. It shows that the attack stimulated a powerful wave of identification with Ukraine across the political spectrum rooted in Polish collective memories. New opportunities also opened for Poland’s self-positioning as a leader in Central and Eastern Europe. At the same time, this consolidation did not overcome the enduring domestic political antagonism and the rival political camps continued to promote competing imaginaries of the European order.