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FromtheEditor
cametopowerinmid-November2015aferwinningtheelectionsconstitutes
acaesurainthisseriesandtheauthorsofthearticlesmerelysignalthechangesto
comeinpoliticsbeforetheendoftheyear.
Teyear2011wasalsothefirstyearofconductingPolishforeignpolicyaferthe
SmolenskcatastropheinwhichPresidentLechKaczyńskiand95othersperished.
BronisławKomorowski,whowoninearlyelectionsasacandidateofthePO,held
ofceuntilAugust2015.Terefore,theyears2011-2015inPolishpoliticsaremainly
aperiodofcooperationbetweenthegovernmentandthepresidentfromthesame
politicalenvironment.AndrzejDudaelectiontoofceaspresidentin2015turned
outtobeasignofupcomingchangesonthePolishpoliticalscene.
Tebeginningof2011coincidedwithunprecedentedeventsintheimmediate
vicinityofEurope—NorthAfricaandtheMiddleEast.Revolutionsincountries
intheseregionssooncametobecalledthe“ArabSpring”andwereaimedat
overthrowingexistingregimes.BenAlifledTunisia.TegovernmentofHosni
MubarakinEgyptcollapsed.TeinternationalinterventioninLibyaledtothe
collapseofitsleader,Muammaral-Gaddafi.TeattempttooverthrowPresident
Basharal-AssadinSyriaendedincivilwarandinternationalinvolvement.Poland
couldnotremainindilerenttotheseevents,norasacountrywithexperience
inpoliticaltransformation.Ittriedtosharetheseexperiences,amongothers,
throughtheEuropeanFundforDemocracy,establishedonthePolishinitiative.
TemostsignificanteventsfromtheperspectiveofPolishforeignpolicywere
thosefollowingthe“RevolutionofDignity”inUkraine.ItbrokeoutinNovember
2013asaresultofPresidentViktorYanukovych)swithdrawalofUkraine,under
Russianpressure,fromsigningtheAssociationAgreementwiththeEuropean
Union.Hissubsequentescapefromthecountryaferanattempttobrutally
suppresspeacefuldemonstrations,followedbyRussianaggressionandoccupation
ofCrimeaandthecreationofquasi-republicsintheeastofthecountrywith
theassistanceofRussia,resultedinthenon-standardinvolvementofthePolish
president,thegovernment,andtheoppositioninUkrainianalairs.Tewarin
UkrainealsoresultedinunprecedentedmigrationfromthiscountrytoPoland,
whichsoonreachedseveralhundredthousandpeopleandcontinuedtogrow.
Europewasalsoconfrontedwithincreasedmigrationandrefugeeflows,
mainlyfromtheMiddleEast,fromtheendof2014.TeEuropeanmass-
migrationandrefugeecrisispeakedin2015,whenalmosttwomillionpeople
enteredEurope,mostlythroughirregularmigration.
Poland)ssecuritypolicyhadtobeadaptedto,amongotherthings,eventsfrom
theEastandSouth.ItwasdominatedbyagrowingthreatfromRussia.Terefore,
Poland)sprimarygoalwastoincreaseNATO)sabilitytodefenditsmemberstates.
AtthesummitinWalesinSeptember2014,theAlliancemettheseexpectations
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YearbookofPolishForeignPolicy2011-2015
