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Some Western politicians tired of Minsk, says Polish ambassador

 

Some Western politicians have grown tired of Minsk and view attempts to talk to it as a waste of time, the Polish ambassador to Belarus, Leszek Szerepka, said at a meeting with pro-democratic activists in Mahilyow on Thursday.

They believe that the West should rather talk to Moscow and would be very happy if they could deal with the Belarus issue through Moscow, said the ambassador.

Russia has its own problems regarding democracy, but there are still more freedoms there than in Belarus, he noted.

Commenting on the visa regime between Belarus and the European Union, Mr. Szerepka said the Belarusian authorities were not interested in visa facilitation and readmission talks. “In June last year, the EU suggested holding talks on a reduction in its visa fee for Belarusians from 60 to 35 euros, the level applied to Ukrainians and Russians. No reply has ever come.”

The ambassador also commented on the Belarusian authorities’ refusal to grant Warsaw’s request to allow it to increase its consular strength. “They accuse the consular staff of busing themselves issuing the Pole`s Card (Karta Polaka) instead of working in the interests of Belarus,” said the ambassador.

As for economic ties between Belarus and Poland, he said that last year`s two-way trade totaled $3.2 billion if estimated in accordance with Belarusian standards and $2.4 billion if estimated in accordance with Polish ones.

The trade increased compared by 2010, but it is now on the decline, probably because the number of cars imported by Belarusian individuals from the EU through the Polish border dwindled, said Mr. Szerepka.

But at the same time, many Belarusians living along the border travel to Poland for shopping, he said. “It casts doubt on allegations that prices in Poland are higher than here. Belarusians account for more than half of all shoppers in large shopping centers. And they buy much more than, for instance, I usually do. //BelaPAN