Three perpectives on Belarusians in Poland

The borderlands between Poland and Belarus are among Europe's least fixed a s to ethnic identities. Since Poland joined NATO in 1999 the formalised bor ders of "the West" cut through these borderlands. Identities tend to be lin ked to how one perceives the borders. Three main perspectives on the border lands were identified among the policy actors purporting to represent the e thnically non-Polish inhabitants of Northeast Poland. The first view bases itself on the idea that mankind is divided into nations. There fore the cul turally mixed population in the borderlands must be streamlined and institu tionalised into already established ethnic groups. The second view perceive s the borderlands as a meeting-place - and not necessarily a conflictive on e - between two major "civilisations". The third view emphasises the region al identities across the state borders. Making use of the three perspective s this article analyses the processes that have led to relative ethnic peac e in Northeast Poland.