Deputy Minister Marcin Przydacz also attended a discussion panel organised in Paris on 27 January by the Embassies of Poland, Lithuania, and Romania as well as the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Minister Zbigniew Rau underlined that Belarusian people defend their dignity and democratic values that are identical to the EU’s founding values. “This makes the EU and the transatlantic community responsible for supporting Belarusian civil society and maintaining pressure on the authorities in Minsk,” he stressed. In the opinion of the minister, the involvement of European opinion-forming and decision-making circles in the debate on the situation in Belarus and the country’s future is an important element that inspires international institutions and individual capitals to take actions. The chief of Polish diplomacy recalled that it was Warsaw and the Visegrad Group that put forward the EU’s economic plan for a democratic Belarus, which was approved by all 27 member states. “The concept of Belarus’s prosperous future must have the clear support from the whole family of democratic countries, not just from individual partners such as Lithuania or Poland,” he noted. “What started last year, cannot be stopped or suppressed. I believe that a democratic Belarus and its heroic society will prevail,” summed up Minister Rau.

The participants of the panel discussion focused on factors that influence the dynamics of the developments in Belarus and the possible EU support for the democratic aspirations of Belarusian society. Deputy Minister Przydacz expressed his belief that the massive protests, which were triggered by the rigged presidential elections, are the vehicle of an inevitable change. Poland, the EU, and the entire community of democratic states do not remain indifferent to the heroic and justified effort of Belarusian society and provide it with multifaceted and comprehensive support. In this context, the deputy minister focused on the EU’s economic plan for a democratic Belarus, devised by the European Commission upon the initiative of Poland and the Visegrad Group, which is going to be the key item of “the EU’s positive offer for Belarus during its democratic transition.” 

According to the deputy chief of Polish diplomacy, even though the ongoing crisis in Belarus is the country’s internal affair, it surely unfolds along the lines of Moscow’s politics, among other factors. Russia has explicitly backed Alexander Lukashenko and helps him to persist in his policy. But it comes at a long-term cost of weakening Belarus as a state. “Russia will use Belarus’s weak position, particularly in the economic and military areas.” The deputy head of the Polish MFA also addressed the issue of human rights protection in Belarus and the need to set up an effective international mechanism. It would serve the purpose of documenting violations to be independently investigated in the future.

A high turnout during the webinar proves the relevance of the issue and its importance for the European public and experts.

 

MFA Press Office
 

 photo: Tymon Markowski / MFA