BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

Monday, 25 July 2005

Poland/Belarus diplomatic war

Written by Brussels journalist David Ferguson

Monday evening saw Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Zalucki order the expulsion of a second Belarus diplomat from Warsaw. "This decision is an answer to the earlier, totally unjustified expulsion of the head of Polish consulate in Minsk," said Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aleksander Checko.

"The Polish Foreign Ministry continues to express its readiness to seek a compromise and to improve relations with Belarus," added Checko. "For that reason, Poland foresees, in the near future, lower visa fees for Belarus citizens and also programmes aimed at developing cross-border cooperation, as well as commercial, scientific and cultural exchange," said Polish spokesperson Checko.

Poland will find it difficult to step up cultural and scientific exchange with Belarus. Late last week, Belarus authorities declared Warsaw-based Polish scientific NGO Dialog 'illegal'. According to Belarus state television, Dialog, an NGO supporting cooperation between scientists, has been accused of spying.

On 15 July, Belarus authorities ordered Polish diplomat Andrzej Buczak to leave the country. On the same day, U.S. Professor Terry Boesch was ordered to pack his bags with his two young daughters. Boesch had been teaching international law and business at Belarus State University after moving to the Eastern European country in 2003 (see article).

"The internal situation in Belarus is worrying for President Lukashenko and he's looking for enemies," Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Adam Rotfeld told Polish radio following the expulsions. Belarus President Aleksander Lukashenko, who U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice called 'Europe's last dictator', has faced increasing criticism from EU member Poland.

Poland's latest diplomatic spat with Minsk arose over government pressure on Belarus' Union of Poles. Despite Warsaw's support for the Belarus' Union of Poles, if the diplomatic climate between Warsaw and Minsk worsens, it will be the 450,000 ethnic Poles in Belarus who suffer most, either directly or in terms of more difficult contacts with Poland. Warsaw has until now not supported imposing EU trade sanctions on Belarus, via withdrawal of GSP status (see article).

Belarus' Foreign Ministry says the blame lies with Warsaw. "The recent actions taken by the Polish side prove that Poland has been pursuing a clear policy aimed at reducing Belarus-Polish relations," announced the Foreign Ministry press service on Monday. "The artificially deteriorated situation around 'The Union of Poles in Belarus' is only a part of the successive negative efforts made by the Polish side."

"In spite of the hysteria, which continues in Poland, the situation around this Belarus public association will be settled in line with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus. Attempts to exert outside influence on it will be considered as interference in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state. Actions of the Polish side prove either it does not realize its role of a new member of the European Union or show a baseless nature of its foreign policy," noted Belarus' Foreign Ministry.

Source:

http://euro-reporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=163&Itemid=1