Can Belarus restore good-neighborly relations with Poland and what is needed for this? How soon will the sanity prevail in Europe in the policy in the eastern direction? And how justified was the decision to introduce a visa-free regime for the citizens of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland? These questions were answered by Foreign Minister of Belarus Sergei Aleinik on the air of ONT TV channel.
Sergei Aleinik, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus:
“I would like to start by saying that we were not the initiators of the deterioration of relations with Poland. We had to react to numerous, I would even say systematic unfriendly steps on the part of the Polish authorities towards Belarus. We have always advocated and continue to advocate the dialogue. We have always proceeded and continue to proceed from the need to preserve the principles of good-neighborliness. The head of our State has repeatedly spoken about it. We conveyed these messages through our own channels in our communication with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland. Therefore, the Polish side knows very well that we are ready for a dialogue, but this dialogue should be of an exclusively mutually respectful nature and should be carried out without any preconditions. We are awaiting the formation of the new Polish Government. Let's see where the Polish new government will lead us in our relations.”
According to Aleinik, the decision on visa-free travel to Belarus for citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland was absolutely correct: "First of all, it was not an agreement, it was our unilateral sovereign decision to cancel visas for citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. As practice has shown, this decision was absolutely correct. Because during the whole period of visa-free travel our country was visited by more than 750 thousand citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. This year alone, this figure is approaching 400 thousand. This was our goodwill gesture, which emphasized our openness, our readiness to continue the dialogue with the people of Lithuania, with the people of Latvia and with the people of Poland.
The diplomat said how long, in his opinion, the breakdown of European contacts with Belarus could last.
Sergei Aleinik, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus:
I think you heard Mr. Borrell's recent statement, one of the few statements with which we can agree. He said that the Middle East crisis is a political and moral failure of Western diplomacy. I think when Mr. Borrell and European politicians realize that their Eastern policy is also a political and moral failure, when sanity prevails, then I think we will return to a normal, civilized dialogue, to a normal level of bilateral relations.
