MediumLinkedIn

Publication · September 25, 2025

Poland’s Place in EU Foreign Policy

By Adithya Suresh · 9 min read

An analytical piece examining Poland’s growing influence in shaping EU strategic direction and foreign policy decisions.

Poland’s place in EU foreign policy, is a constantly evolving one in the modern world. While a singular answer cannot be given in regards to their position in EU Foreign Policy, A multi-faceted approach is required especially in regards to exploring Poland’s position in EU’s wider foreign policy and goals for the present & future.

A brief background

Poland’s joining to the European Union (EU) is relatively new, It has been part of the Union since May 1 2004 after they had signed the accession treaty in Athens on 16 April 2003.

Its geographical position of being in the Central part of European Union had made it a target of larger powers with expansionist policies. A major example of such a case being the country’s being a target of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during WW2 and later being a key contention point for the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

At present, Their geographical position has yet again let the Central European power in being a target of Russian and Belarusian Governments in its proxy war with the European Union by keeping Polish border forces engaged by Belarus’s alleged illegal tactic of shipping Iraqi and Libyan migrants ravaged by war to the Polish border transported through the country’s heavily sanctioned state-airline “Belavia” in an attempt to keep Polish Border forces occupied, giving it a potential opening for any attacks if necessary on European soil.

Of late, the country of Belarus has doubled down on its efforts after there were just two flights between Benghazi and Minsk during May. June and July saw numbers rise to four and five respectively. Despite a ban on the overflight of EU airspace and access to EU airports by the CFSP on 2021, The state-carrier had found a way to avoid sanctions by using a more circuitous route around Europe as demonstrated in Fig 1 below.

Poland’s growing economic relevance in the union

Poland’s position of having one of the larger militaries within the Union, along with co-operation from policy makers and a union-wide backing from other members, would guarantee the safety and stability of the wider union’s ambitions. This aligns with Poland’s larger goal of being pragmatically against illegal immigrants, while also aligning with the EU’s stance of being pro-immigrant and anti-illegal immigrant from a realist perspective.

On the other hand, Poland’s defence expenditure has increased from 2.4% to 4.7% of its GDP this year. While this increase was due to the pressure of the US pulling back from its NATO commitments in Europe, Poland doubling down on its national defence expenditure goes hand in hand with the European Defence Agency’s ambition of having independent armed forces to ward off external threats.

In addition, Poland’s increasing economic relevance in recent times has enabled the country to slowly become a backbone for European industry. This economic relevance has also made the country central to European foreign policy on economic fronts.

A Change in Alignment?

From an administrative lens, Poland repaid the shift by the European Union through a re-alignment of interests, investing more into the European story through its investment in companies and in countries that are part of the European Union, in industries where it has previously and historically invested in non-EU countries. This change in alignment comes from its slow shift away from traditional powers such as the US and China. One big example of Poland’s shifting alignment towards EU interests is its purchase of 40 Airbus planes for its state-owned airline LOT Polish Airlines. This comes as a surprise to most observers of the aviation industry, as the airline was historically a Boeing customer (which is primarily US-Government led). Another being the country’s commitment in taking a 45 billion Euro loan from the EU Commission related to finance and defense under the EU SAFE program. This was confirmed by the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz on the public social media platform X.

From a constructivist lens, this shift in alignment signals Poland’s commitment towards preserving the larger European identity of the EU, which falls hand in hand with its increasing relevance in foreign policy.

The Impact of Poland’s Shift

In addition to this, Poland has made a significant impact when it comes to curbing immigration. The Central European power has indirectly influenced the stance of other EU members in EU immigration policy. For one, Poland has been a historically right-wing country, the likes of which is largely opposed to the liberalist outlook of the union. The opinions of Poland in regards to its immigration stance and its stance on illegal immigration have had a ripple effect in policy circles, as increasingly more European countries have echoed anti-illegal immigrant sentiment within the Union.

This has led to an overall decrease in the number of immigrants for the first time since 2019, as the past couple of years since the COVID-19 pandemic had seen a rise of immigrants into the continent. Other members within the EU have also emphasized the removal of illegal immigrants from the continent altogether through co-operation agreements signed between members of the union and the northern African countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia & Libya, along with Turkey to the east of the union.

From an energy perspective, Poland’s opposition to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which its western neighbor Germany was a huge advocate of, Poland’s opposition and constant pushback against acquiring Russian energy dependencies of the union has slowly and lead to the halt of Nord 2, which was completed in September 2021, around the time of the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Despite jeopardizing the EU’s lifeline natural gas supply, vital for heating most European homes, and although bad from an energy perspective, this move has increased the EU’s independence from external actors that are not aligned with European values, proven through the acquirement of gas from trade partners such as Norway, the UK, the US and Qatar (which is also a close ally of the US in the Middle East).

While Poland has achieved its national interests through its many ways of influencing EU foreign policy, this influence, while good for Polish interests, has come at the cost of fragmentation of political beliefs among other members of the EU who have traditionally held a liberalist and, in a sense, a more democratic view, as most national victories are quite often portrayed as political victories among ruling parties of European powers.

The Potential Consequences of Poland’s Self-Interests

Poland’s soft Euroscepticism, through its opposition to specific policies such as the operation of Nord Stream 2 during the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine War, has caused opposition especially from its Western neighbour Germany, who had tried to keep the pipeline operational to potentially generate an estimated 2 billion USD annually.

This soft Euroscepticism has fuelled increasing fragmentation, which has inadvertently created a bloc-effect among sections of the union, which could hamper the democratic process of the union, especially on matters concerning the foreign policy of the European Union. Poland’s frequent persistence could create a domino effect into bloc-level politics among different polities within the Union, at the cost of Poland pursuing its national interests.

From a realist perspective, while Poland’s strong opposition to certain EU policies, such as its strong opposition to the operation of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, and its unwavering support for the Ukrainian cause in the Russia-Ukraine war is seemingly neo-realist, it is due to record-high domestic support for their eastern neighbour, Ukraine.

On the other hand, from a constructivist lens, this continued support from Poland to its eastern neighbour comes from its history during the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as the Commonwealth held a substantial part of present-day Ukraine. This shared identity is also a potential reason behind Poland’s support for Ukraine, which is reflected in its stance on issues related to the Russia-Ukraine War. It leads the country to take a polarizing stance on issues concerning Ukraine, even to the point of influencing EU foreign policy against larger powers such as Germany, which have largely influenced EU policies across multiple issues and sectors over time.

The Future of Poland’s Foreign Policy?

Poland’s increasing presence in the European Union spans border security, defence, finance, immigration and energy security. This growing presence within the EU’s foreign policy would lead the country to have a bigger say on European matters, although this might come at the expense of potential fragmentation of political ideologies among European powers.

Poland’s growth story so far, along with the factors mentioned in this article and current geopolitical scenarios, dictates a bright future for the Central European power in matters of EU foreign policy and in matters beyond the scope of foreign policy, to the point of being able to easily influence wider European politics.

Sources consulted

  1. Poland in the EU — Poland in the EU — Gov.pl website. (n.d.). Poland in the EU. https://www.gov.pl/web/eu/poland-in-the-eu
  2. Woźniak/Hw, M. (2025, August 10). Increased flights from Libya to Belarus spark new EU eastern border migration fears. Telewizja Polska S.A. https://tvpworld.com/88269628/increased-flights-from-libya-to-belarus-spark-new-eu-eastern-border-migration-fears
  3. EU bans Belarusian carriers from its airspace and airports. (2021). Consilium. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2021/06/04/eu-bans-belarusian-carriers-from-its-airspace-and-airports/
  4. Flightradar24. (2025). Live Flight Tracker — Real-Time Flight Tracker Map | Flightradar24. Flightradar24. https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/b28802#3ba7a594
  5. Britannica. (n.d.). Mariel boatlift | Cuba, Summary, & Facts | Britannica. Www.britannica.com. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mariel-boatlift
  6. Belarus has dozens of Russian nuclear weapons and is ready for its newest missile, its leader says | AP News. (2024, December 10). AP News. https://apnews.com/article/russia-belarus-lukashenko-putin-nuclear-oreshnik-ukraine-0cb678c1d0144fb6b372693a4ec6af4d
  7. “Security, Europe!”: Poland’s rise as NATO’s defense spending leader. (2025b, March 6). Wilson Center. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/security-europe-polands-rise-natos-defense-spending-leader#:~:text=In%202025%2C%20Poland's%20defense%20spending,leader%20in%20defense%20within%20NATO.
  8. LOT Polish Airlines places its first ever Airbus order for 40 A220s. (2025, June 16). Airbus. https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-06-lot-polish-airlines-places-its-first-ever-airbus-order-for-40-a220s
  9. Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. (2025, July 29). Polska złożyła do KE wstępną deklarację na pozyskanie pożyczki w ramach unijnego programu SAFE. X. Retrieved August 13, 2025, from https://x.com/KosiniakKamysz/status/1950207848782127525
  10. La Rocca, M. (2025b, April 14). Net immigration to the EU slows down in 2024. Eunews. https://www.eunews.it/en/2025/04/14/eu-immigration-growth-slows-in-2024/
  11. Zarhloule, Y. (n.d.). Migrants at the gate: Europe tries to curb undocumented migration. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2025/02/migrants-at-the-gate-europe-tries-to-curb-undocumented-migration?lang=en
  12. Nord Stream 2 — Symbol of failed German bet on Russian gas. (2025, July 18). Clean Energy Wire. https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/gas-pipeline-nord-stream-2-links-germany-russia-splits-europe
  13. Where does the EU’s gas come from? — consilium.europa.eu. Council of the European Union. (n.d.). https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/infographics/where-does-the-eu-s-gas-come-from/
  14. Icwa. (n.d.). The politics of Nord Stream 2 pipeline — Indian Council of World Affairs (Government of India). https://www.icwa.in/show_content.php?lang=1&level=1&ls_id=7785&lid=5192
  15. LibGuides: The War in Ukraine: Ukraine before the First World War (pre-1914). (n.d.). https://guides.lib.uconn.edu/ukraine/pre1914

← Back to publicationsRead on Medium