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Lukashenka: Belarus interested in neighborly relations with Poland

Belarus is interested in “neighborly” relations with Poland, Alyaksandr Lukashenka told a group of Belarusian State University students in Minsk on February 12.

He said that the Belarusian and Polish peoples shared centuries-long traditions, friendship and understanding and that Warsaw’s plans to grant extensive privileges to people of Polish descent living in post-Soviet states could not cause considerable damage to Belarus, according to official information sources.

The privileges such as a free multi-entry visa and rights to work, set up a company and study similar to those exercised by Polish nationals are specified in the Polish Charter (Karta Polaka) Law.

The law, which passed the Polish parliament last September and is set to take effect in March, unexpectedly came under fire from the Belarusian state media and foreign ministry the previous week, with the latter alleging that its enforcement may "seriously destabilize interethnic relations in our country, spark tensions in Belarusian society, disrupt its stability and give rise to mistrust between Belarusian nationals of different descent."

“Religious and ethnic divisions in society will never be allowed to appear,” Mr. Lukashenka was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
“Our ‘well-wishers’ have made repeated attempts to interfere in the country’s internal affairs, playing the ethnicity card, blowing the ‘Polish’ and ‘Jewish’ issues out of proportion,” Mr. Lukashenka said.

He stressed that Hungary’s plans to enact a similar law had hit a snag after fierce opposition from Austria, Romania and Slovakia. “International organizations recognized the practice as a violation of human rights then,” he said.

Mr. Lukashenka lashed out at the European Union for producing no reaction to the Polish law. //BelaPAN