Poland is ready to organize visits of foreign ministers from the countries of the Eastern Partnership and the Visegrad Group to Minsk. At least, this was stated by the Chairman of the Council of the Republic, Mikhail Myasnikovich, after an official visit to Warsaw. There has been no confirmation of this by the Polish authorities.
In Poland Mikhail Myasnikovich seemed very pleased with himself. Seven years ago, when he headed the government, the Belarusian authorities were under sanctions by the United States and the European Union for tough criminal and physical persecution of the opposition. And now the European sanctions have been lifted, and their delegation is being received at the highest level. At least in the neighboring country.
“All the goals that I came here with have been accomplished. With Marshal Korczewski, with President Duda, and with Prime Minister Marowecki, we agreed on further cooperation both in economic and inter-parliamentary cooperation,” Myasnikovich told Belsat.
The ex-prime minister, however, wasn’t in a hurry to share the details of the talks: “We could talk about this for a week!”
In the Polish Senate, opposition representatives defiantly left the hall during an official greeting by a representative of Lukashenka. However, this did not affect the Polish government. According to political analyst Syarhei Nikalyuk, the official Warsaw has not forgotten about human rights issues in Belarus, while not expecting Lukashenka to make progress in this direction.
“Myasnikovich’s visit is successful, because the issues that can be solved are being solved. And those which are outside, probably, are not discussed, because why bother. I believe both sides understand the boundaries of the issues,” Nikalyuk believes.
As Myasnikovich was quoted in Belarus Today: to bring the Belarusian-Polish relations to a higher level, the official Warsaw declared its readiness to organize the arrival in Minsk of the Foreign Ministers of the Visegrad Group and the Eastern Partnership initiative of the European Union — that is, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
“Belarus is a donor of international security, it is clear if we look at the latest events: the Minsk agreements related to resolving difficulties in Ukraine,” the chairman of the Council of the Republic advertised a negotiating platform in Minsk.
For the Poles, Myasnikovich’s visit to Warsaw went almost unnoticed: a summit on security in the Middle East was held at the same time, which involved much more influential guests. And in Russia, it was the three-day visit of Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who came to Sochi to negotiate the continuation of economic easing, which attracted attention.
Putin and Lukashenka went skiing, played hockey, drank tea in the company of other high profile leaders. But what did it end up with?
“Our politicians, both in Russia and in Belarus, are like this — informal things are more important than formal ones, and the main agreements are concluded in general in baths, during hunting, like in the Soviet Union,” recalls Syarhei Nikalyuk.
According to the political scientist, long meetings between Lukashenka and Putin did not bring concrete agreements. Otherwise, one of the parties would be fast to brag about it.
Yaraslau Stseshyk, belsat.eu
