BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

Tuesday, 26 July 2005

Minsk & Warsaw fight

Written by Brussels journalist David Ferguson

"On 26 July, the Belarus Foreign Ministry informed its counterpart that Polish charge d'affaires Andrzej Olborski must terminate prematurely his mission and depart within a period of ten days," read a press statement from the Belarus Foreign Ministry. Relations between Poland and Belarus went from bad to worse on Tuesday. Following Monday's expulsion, by Poland of a second Belarus diplomat, Minsk responded in kind.

"The above decision by Belarus was taken in response to information received on 25 July from Poland's Foreign Ministry of the necessity that Nikolai Petrovich, charge d'affaires at the Belarus Embassy in Warsaw, must leave Polish territory within ten days," announced Minsk.

Maria Vanshinoi, head of Belarus Foreign Affairs' press service, lays the blame firmly at Warsaw's feet. "[Poland's] actions demonstrate Warsaw's insincerity as regards supporting the Polish minority in Belarus, and of using the Polish minority for its own political games as a means of exerting pressure on our country," she said. Belarus will always give constructive responses if positive steps are taken by the other side, according to Vanshinoi.

"By denying the entry into Poland of a number of Belarus citizens, the Polish Foreign Ministry is, in practice, using methods that are contrary in spirit and letter to the Helsinki Final Act as regards the freedom of movement and contacts, even though [Poland's Foreign Ministry] declares its adherence to international standards," added Vanshinoi.

On Monday, Poland's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrzej Zalucki expelled Belarus diplomat Petrovich from Warsaw. "This is a response to the wholly unjustified earlier expulsion of the Polish consul in Minsk," said Aleksander Checko, spokesperson for the Poland's Foreign Ministry.

For its part, Poland's Foreign Ministry says it is willing to seek a compromise and better relations with Minsk. "For this 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," added Checko.

Source:

http://euro-reporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=167&Itemid=1