Радослав Сикорски. Фото: PAP/Paweł Supernak
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said in an interview with the newspaper Rzeczpospolita that relations with Belarus had seen a “slight thaw”. He said the improvement was influenced by the release of Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut through US mediation, as well as the possibility of his return to Belarus.
“We are seeing a slight thaw, as Belarus has done what successive Polish governments called for: it released Andrzej Poczobut — through US mediation — and even allowed him to return and released him again,” the foreign minister said.
He added that “the launches of smuggling balloons have stopped recently” and that the Polish-Belarusian border was calm. In his assessment, this was not due to Belarus but was the result of Poland spending more than one billion euros on building a barrier and conducting border security operations.
“Some people in the country seem to believe that Poland has certain eternal, unchanging friends and enemies; meanwhile, the essence of foreign policy is to persuade other subjects of international law to act in ways that best serve our interests — and if their policies change, we can change ours too,” the minister said.
“It is in our interests for Belarus to retain its statehood, separate from Russia,” he stressed, noting the difference between being a partner of Russia and becoming part of it.
Sikorski also said that over the past 30 years, the situation had been “moving towards” an expansion of Russia’s territory at Belarus’s expense.
“The goal is to prevent such a development,” he said.