The term «Intermarium» may not be clear to the average citizen, and even to those interested in politics, history, and socio-political processes, as well as the concepts of the Intermarium and the Baltic-Black Sea Union. Therefore, it is worth explaining the idea and concept of the Intermarium.

Let's start with the terminology. The terms «Intermarium» and, to a lesser extent, «Baltic-Black Sea Union» are identical. These terms can also include such terms as the «Baltic-Black Sea Axis», «Three Seas», «Meso-Eurasia» and so on. However, the idea of such an alliance should not be understood in a trivial way. It has several interpretations and options. Indeed, the idea of the Intermarium can be interpreted as the idea of creating a confederation (federation) of Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic States, and other countries of Central, Southeastern, and Northern Europe, or creating a military, political, or economic association, such as NATO or the EU, on the basis of these states. At the same time, the idea of Intermarium can be understood as closer cooperation of the above-mentioned states in the socio-political, economic, security, information, and cultural spheres without creating a supranational association.

The idea of the Intermarium is not new. It originated after the First World War, when the countries of Central and Southeastern Europe gained or restored their own statehood. However, even before the events of more than a century ago, various ideas of alliances of either Slavic peoples or the peoples of Central and Southeastern Europe in general were already present in public discourse. At its inception, this idea was voiced by Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski as a means of protecting Poland and Europe as a whole from Russian expansion and envisaged the expansion of Poland to the south and the inclusion of Prussia.

Later, the first head of the revived Polish state, Józef Piłsudski, and Polish Foreign Minister Józef Beck, were supporters of the Baltic-Black Sea Union. Piłsudski considered the project of the Intermarium, which was to include the modern territories of Poland (except Prussia), Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. His ideas are often identified with the Promethean movement, the activity of diaspora political organizations of the peoples of the former Russian Empire to jointly fight against the USSR for the creation of their own national states.

There were other projects of a confederate state that would have included Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and possibly Finland. This confederation was to extend from the Black and Adriatic Seas to the Baltic Sea. Pilsudski's proposed confederation was to continue the multinational and multicultural tradition of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Piłsudski believed that its restoration would allow the states of Central Europe to avoid domination by Germany or Russia.

The idea of the Intermarium gained a new lease of life after the collapse of the socialist camp and the Soviet Union. Although Poland, the Baltic states and other countries in the region almost immediately embarked on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration, the topic of various associations and alliances among post-Soviet countries was constantly evolving. Already in 1991, an interstate club of three, and after the collapse of Czechoslovakia, four states - Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary - was created, which was called the Visegrad Four or Visegrad Group. Attempts to form an interstate association were also observed among the former Soviet republics. Thus, in 1997, a regional association of four states was formed: Georgia, Ukraine, the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Moldova - GUAM. It was created to counter Russia's influence in the region and was supported by the United States. In 1999, the organization was renamed GUUAM after the Republic of Uzbekistan joined it. However, on May 5, 2005, Uzbekistan withdrew from the organization, causing the original name to be returned. Even the then Ukrainian leadership, with its Soviet mentality, saw GUAM as a Ukraine-centered association and emphasized that it wanted Ukraine to become a regional leader.

The accession of the Baltic states, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary to the European Union somewhat slowed down the Intermarium ideas, but they continued to develop in the academic and socio-political segment. After 2014, due to Russia's seizure of Crimea and intervention in the conflict in Donbas, Ukraine gradually severed comprehensive relations with Moscow. The full-scale war that began on February 24, 2022, finally and irrevocably buried any contacts and cooperation between Ukraine and Russia. Thus, the ideas of the Intermarium received not only a new impetus, but also a more realistic concept, as they went beyond purely theoretical discourse.

Separately, in the context of Intermarium ideas, we should mention Turkey and the countries of the South Caucasus - Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Deepening comprehensive cooperation with these countries is fully in Ukraine's interests, especially since Kyiv already has some experience in creating and operating interstate associations with some of these countries, such as the already mentioned GUAM with Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Currently, there are several main ideas and variations of further development of the Intermarium project:

1. Creation of a confederation or proto-confederation of Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and other Baltic countries with a single economic, customs, information, financial and political zone;
2. Creation of an interstate association under the leadership of the United Kingdom on the basis of Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic States, and other countries of the region with economic, trade, political, and security integration;
3. Deepening comprehensive cooperation and partnership between the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Black Sea region, the South Caucasus (Transcaucasia), primarily Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic States, Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan;
4. Creation of an interstate association on the basis of some or all of the above-mentioned countries with an emphasis on collective security and defense.

Some of these options are more realistic, some are less realistic, based on certain circumstances, such as the membership of Poland and the Baltic states in the EU and NATO, but they are all based on the expansion and deepening of comprehensive cooperation between the countries of Central, Southeastern and Northern Europe, Turkey, and the countries of the South Caucasus, and the growth of their authority and geopolitical weight.

It is important to understand that the Intermarium is not a purely political project or the idea of creating a confederation, interstate association, alliance, etc. It is also about deepening economic, trade, cultural, educational, military, and security partnerships between countries.

Ukraine's view of the Intermarium concept should be based on Ukraine-centeredness, i.e. lobbying for Ukraine's comprehensive interests among the countries that are primarily included in the Intermarium concept and among other countries in Europe and the world. Whichever of the options for an alliance or strategic partnership based on the Intermarium idea is considered, it can become a tool for Ukraine to expand its comprehensive foreign policy contacts, one of the sources of post-war revival, and a source of growth of Ukraine's international authority.