Ulyana Bakhtsizina | European Federalism and Volt in Poland

In this episode of The European Republic, our host Nikodem Skrobisz speaks with Ulyana Bakhtsizina, the newly elected Co-President of Volt Polska and organizer of We Are Europe in Poland. Ulyana shares her unusual path from physics into politics, and how her Polish-Belarusian background and proximity to Russian imperialism shaped her commitment to European federalism and democracy.Together they explore the paradox at the heart of Polish politics: a country that has benefited enormously from EU membership, where around 80 percent of citizens say they support the Union, yet whose entire political landscape is drifting towards Euroscepticism and sovereignist rhetoric. Ulyana explains why Polish support for the EU is often described as wide but shallow, how Law and Justice spent a decade framing Brussels as a threat to national sovereignty, and why pro-European forces made a strategic mistake by neglecting smaller towns and eastern regions.The conversation also covers the rural-urban divide visible in the last presidential election, the role of Russian propaganda and collective memory in fueling anti-EU sentiment, and how the concept of shared European sovereignty can answer Poland’s historically rooted fear of losing independence. Ulyana presents Volt Polska’s vision of a United States of Europe with a common army, common migration policy, and deeper integration, discusses whether Volt Polska will run in elections, and introduces the European Citizens’ Initiative to stop funding Russia’s war machine by phasing out EU imports from Russia.Learn more about Volt Polska: https://voltpolska.orgSign the European Citizens’ Initiative: stopfundingrussianwar.com/sign.htmlUlyana on Instagram: moving.europeUlyana on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ulyana-juliana-bakhtsizina-718088263/Support the show and subscribe for more conversations with pro-European activists and politicians from across the continent. Get full access to Nikodem at nikodemskrobisz.substack.com/subscribe