| Abstract [eng] |
Upon analysing the publications of Lithuanian and Polish scholars on the structures of national minorities, no research was found on how Lithuanian Polish political structures affect cross-border relations in matters of foreign policy. It also seems relevant that 2019 was a turning point for the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance and the Association of Poles in Lithuania, and several conflicts with Polish political representatives in Lithuania show that Polish actors do not take into account the postulates announced by the EAPL-CFA and APL. Therefore, the main question arises – how these two organisations representing the interests of the Polish minority affect Lithuanian-Polish relations in the development of foreign policy. In order to find out the role of EAPL-CFA and APL in the formation of Polish-Lithuanian relations and the positions they represent in the selected cases, a case study was performed. A qualitative-interpretive research method has been chosen for detailed representation. Qualitative analysis of media and document content, as well as unstructured interviews with important experts in Lithuanian-Polish relations, helps to reveal the real situation. During the interviews, the position and role of EAPL-CFA and APL in the transformation of bilateral relations in 2016-2020 were analysed. In the theoretical part, a new realistic-constructivist model of strategic partnership has been chosen, which allowed the research to be more flexible, examining how interest groups as national minorities can influence a certain strategic partnership-building process and how political leaders who build strategic partnerships allow their relationships to be influenced by interest groups. And the theory of political participation of national minorities allowed for a broader understanding of the individuality of each case of national minority parties and their factor in the development of foreign policy, expanding it in the study of work. Based on these theories and research, it turned out that: Upon the analysis of dynamics of Lithuanian-Polish relations and research of leaders' positions in the development of relations, a realistic-constructivist model of strategic partnership was applied to these relations, which states that not only security but also leaders' qualities and beliefs are important in building cross-border relations. This allowed to further investigate the factor of EAPL-CFA and APL in the formation of Lithuanian-Polish relations, distinguishing: the cases of Russia, Belarus, the Polish national minority and the EU. Upon examining the factor of EAPL-CFA and APL in the formation of Lithuanian-Polish foreign policy issues in 2016-2020, it became clear that EAPL-CFA and APL are not a factor consolidating Lithuanian-Polish relations in foreign policy in 2016-2020. This means that these organisations, as interest groups, cannot influence this relationship in any way. However, these cases have revealed that national minorities are not only involved in foreign policy, but are interested in a wide range of foreign policy issues. This statement makes it possible to extend the theory that has hitherto prevailed that national minority parties focus on a limited set of foreign policy issues, so it is worth emphasising that each case is unique. The case of the Polish national minority showed that the hypothesis that the provisions and objectives declared by the EAPL-CFA and APL fully correspond to the actual activities of these organisations is only partially confirmed, as the provisions of their program, the legal amendments to the EAPL-CFA registered in the Seimas and their statements in the Lithuanian media show that in 2016-2020 they moved away from the issues of national minorities and social issues declared in their 2016 program regulations. |
