Twentieth-century Polish historian Dr Slawomir Lukasiewicz, Professor at the Catholic University of Lublin, and Ukrainian political scientist and columnist Dr Mykola Riabchuk from the Institute of Political and Ethnic Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kiev are conducting a joint research project whose main aim is to compare the historical experiences of Poland and Ukraine in terms of European integration. 

In practice, the project is intended to allow Ukrainians to be better prepared for the negotiation and accession process to the European Union. The research of Prof. Łukasiewicz and Dr Riabchuk is funded by the FOR UKRAINE programme of the Foundation for Polish Science.

The project is interdisciplinary, combining a historical perspective with an analysis of contemporary discourse. Dr Riabchuk is responsible for the contemporary part, which also analyses the institutional arrangements necessary for Ukraine’s accession to the EU. Prof. Łukasiewicz analyses historical discourses in order, among other things, to show key moments in the change of the Ukrainian narrative about the EU: starting from 2004, i.e. the first protests on the Kyiv Maidan and the first pro-European declarations, up to the culmination in 2022.