On July 8, Ukraine and Poland signed the agreement on security guarantees, which include a new initiative – the creation of the Ukrainian Legion. President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the formation of a new military unit on the territory of Poland – the Ukrainian Legion, where volunteers from Ukraine are invited. And already today, the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radoslaw Sikorski, said that in a few days, thousands of people applied to join the legion.
What is this legion and what prospects does service in it open?
So far, the Ukrainian Legion in Poland exists mainly on paper. Its creation was announced only 4 days ago, and many details remain unknown.
President Zelenskyi explained that the idea arose on the basis of the positive experience of the Ukrainian-Polish-Lithuanian brigade created in 2014, and Kyiv wants to provide Ukrainians in Poland with a new opportunity to voluntarily participate in the defense of their country.
Defense Minister Umerov gave some details: the legion will be based and formed in Poland, but Ukrainians from other European countries will be able to join it. They, like others, will be offered a contract with the Armed Forces, and the training and arming of recruits will be financed by international partners. At the same time, Sikorsky reported that several thousand people applied for admission in three days. According to him, people “really want to serve and change their compatriots at the front.” However, they do not want to go into battle uneducated and ill-equipped. Sikorsky also hinted that if the experiment proves successful, it could be extended to other European countries. Thus, Ukraine could receive many new brigades from volunteers throughout Europe.
Another very important aspect: after the rotation, Ukrainians will be able to return to Poland, despite the closed borders, and this is a significant incentive for many men to join the new Ukrainian Legion in Poland.
And although this looks quite encouraging, there are certain grounds for skepticism. Will this initiative really come to fruition, or will it remain just an idea?
In just three days, there are several thousand volunteers to join the formation, which does not yet exist in reality in its entirety. On the one hand, this indicates a significant influx of applicants (if, of course, the numbers are true), but on the other hand, in 2023, about 1.3 million Ukrainians lived in Poland, so a few thousand applications are only 0.1-0, 2% of the entire Ukrainian community in Poland.
The initiative itself looks interesting and smart. It is clearly preferable to threats of deportation or calls to local governments to make life difficult for refugees. In addition, there are examples from international practice: for example, Zionist military formations. During the Second World War, Jews from various countries were recruited into the British army to fight against Nazi Germany. These units later became the basis for the creation of the Israeli IDF. A similar story was with Canadians who lived in the USA. That is, examples of the successful formation of international military units exist and are confirmed by history.
At the same time, the question of motivation arises, because many Ukrainians left for Poland illegally in the first months of the war. Is there a possibility that those who fled the war will suddenly want to return to Ukraine immediately to the front? Because if someone lived in Poland and wanted to fight for Ukraine, what prevented them from doing it in the last 2.5 years?
There are many questions, but a partial answer can be found in the approach to training and equipping new recruits, which is financed by Western partners, and not at the expense of Ukrainians alone, as is often the case in our country. An additional and decisive incentive remains the possibility to return to Poland after the end of the service, but completely legally, under the protection of the EU and without obstacles with the government of Ukraine.
So, public figures declare the great success of the idea of the Ukrainian Legion in Poland. It’s hard to verify so far since it’s only been around for 4 days on paper, but over time we’ll see more details: number of contracts signed, training photos and videos, combat training, salaries and military ammunition, etc. The idea is new and certainly interesting, but the question of the motivation of Ukrainians in Europe remains open. It is also worth watching how this initiative will affect international relations between Ukraine and its European partners, because if the legion really becomes a successful example of cooperation, it can open new opportunities for expanding support for Ukraine from European countries.
