Radoslaw Sikorski: We cooperate both with North Korea and with Belarus

At the forum of the foreign ministers of the EU member states and the Eastern Partnership partner states in Poland’s Sopot the Foreign Minister of Poland has answered questions of charter97.org website.

"As it is known, Foreign Minister of Poland Radoslaw Sikorski is an initiator of the dialogue of the European Union with Alyaksandr Lukashenka. In this connection Natallya Radzina, a charter97.org journalist, who attends the summit of the Eastern Partnership, asked the following question to the minister: "Belarusian oppositionists many times warned you that the dialogue with the last dictator of Europe Alyaksandr Lukashenka would result in repressions intensification in Belarus. And it has happened this way. Two criminal cases have been opened against charter97.org website, a search was held in our news office, all computers have been seized and I was beaten. Recently mass searches have been held in the flats of democratic activists all over the country. But you keep silent. What is that: an ostrich policy, infantilism or cowardice?"

The question has obviously caught Radoslaw Sikorski off guard. First he started to answer in English, but the switched to Polish:

"Poland maintains diplomatic ties with many countries which are the UN members, and not any of these countries can boast of a democratic political system. We cooperate with North Korea, with Saudi Arabia. And I would like to say that we do not support the political systems in these countries at all. I held numerous meetings and consultations with representatives of the Belarusian opposition, and every time Belarusian oppositionists tried to persuade me that the dialogue with the Belarusian regime is necessary.

Undoubtedly, the system of government in Belarus is rather peculiar, but Belarus is our neighbour, and we cannot choose neighbours. It's true, I have signed an agreement to facilitate cross-border cooperation with Belarus, but this decision signed by the Belarusian authorities would simplify lives of several hundreds of Belarusian citizens. Relations between the European Union and Belarus have passed through different stages and forms. And isolation policy which was used for the last 15 years, to my mind, has not brought any results. Rather the opposite. During the period of isoldation several political murders have taken place.

I believe that every partner should be given a possibilty of choice. It is a choice between self-isolation and cooperation with the European Union. If the authorities of Belarus would choose the path of repressions, then it would result in self-isolation. But we certainly would see the Belarusian policy a more balanced one. I do not believe that we keep silent about the repressions in Belarus. I think that if you asked Belarusian officials, they would tell you how active Poles are in the issues of human rights in Belarus," said the head of the Foreign Ministry of Poland.