‘High hopes’ for dialogue. Belarus, Poland have nothing to quarrel about - Lukashenka
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has high hopes for resuming an active dialogue between Belarus and Poland, he said at Monday’s meeting with Stanislaw Karczewski, Marshal of the Senate of Poland.
“I have a strong impression that your visit to Belarus will pave the way for the start of the most active dialogue between our countries. With all the interests of Poland and Belarus in mind, we have nothing to quarrel about. We have always lived in friendship and concord. We have a shared history. I would like to assure you that we will always be open in respect to our common history. We are ready to provide answers to any questions coming from the Polish side,” news agency BelTA quotes the Belarusian leader.
He recalled in January-September 2016 the trade between Belarus and Poland totaled $1.52 billion as against $1.38 billion over the same period last year. The two countries need to raise their political relations to the level of the economic ones, Lukashenka stressed.
Unfortunately, the state-run news agency failed to publish Mr Karczewski’s response.
“Alyaksandr Lukashenka and I are talking about the improvement of the Polish-Belarusian relations,” the Marshal said on Twitter.
Ratifying an agreement on the mutual cooperation in education is expected to be the main outcome of the visit. The agreement between the Polish and Belarusian governments includes the issues of scientific cooperation exchange of teachers, young people and students studying the Polish language.
“We will talk about the legalization of the Union of Poles in Belarus, as well as about its property (school and Polish homes) being given back to their rightful owners. The Belarusian authorities are ready to solve this problem,” Stanisław Karczewski said in an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP) before arriving in Minsk.
At the airport, the top official was met by Chairman of the Council of the Republic of Belarus’ National Assembly Mikhail Myasnikovich. The Polish parliamentary delegation is in Belarus on the invitation of the Council of the Republic. The working visit will last until December, 6.
The Polish-Belarusian relations have greatly improved in 2016. Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski’s arrival in Belarus broke the ice in March; his Belarusian counterpart Uladzimir Makey visited Warsaw in October. In 2016, the Belarusian authorities welcomed Ryszard Terlecki, Deputy Speaker of the Polish Sejm, and Mateusz Morawiecki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Development.
