Rzeczpospolita: “Head of Belarusian MFA Martynau mocks at EU and its values”

Polish newspapers continue to comment on results of the talks between foreign ministers of Poland and Belarus Radoslaw Sikorski and Syarhei Martynau held in Warsaw.

As Polskie Radio reports, the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita notes in editor’s comment:

“Negotiations between Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and head of the Belarusian diplomacy seem to have brought no results. The Belarusian authorities do what they want. They suppress all initiatives they don’t like, all that is going on in the country that should be controlled by them. This concerns the Union of Poles in Belarus led by Andzelika Borys.

Contrary to Martynau, persecution of the national minority is not an internal affair of Belarus. The fact Poland is interested in Poles living in Belarus should surprise anyone.

A question proposes itself: is the re any sense in negotiations with representatives of the Belarusian regime? Was it practical to ease some sanctions on Belarus and permit some Belarusian VIPs, including Lukashenka, travelling in Europe? This can be regarded as admission of own helplessness. The aim was not to leave Belarus in Russia’s area of influence, to promote strengthening its sovereignty, offering Minsk a perspective of closer ties with West. This approach is still important. This is not an easy task, which was illustrated by minister Martynau in Warsaw. Visiting Warsaw some days after the Belarusian militia and courts had used tight repressions against the Polish national minority, the Belarusian diplomat mocked at Poland, the European Union, and its system of values,” Rzeczpospolita writes.