Adviser to the President of Poland commented on the appeal of Kolesnikova and Zolotova: Lukashenka releases several dozen prisoners, and detains new ones the next day
Head of the Bureau of International Policy of the Chancellery of the President of Poland Marcin Przydacz told Radio Svaboda that the release of Belarusian political prisoners remains an absolute priority for the EU. At the same time, he sees no grounds for softening the sanctions policy against Minsk. "Today I see no reason to change the sanctions policy, unless the Belarusian authorities truly begin to change their internal and international policy. At the moment, I do not see such far-reaching readiness on the part of Minsk."
Thus, during the "Polish Eastern Policy" conference in Wroclaw, Przydacz commented to Radio Svaboda on the appeal of a group of former Belarusian political prisoners to European leaders, calling for more active efforts to secure the release of political prisoners in Belarus.
«Certainly, the issue of political prisoners is extremely important, and everything possible must be done through diplomatic actions to free these people. And here, Poland has done a great deal, because thanks to our good contacts with the American administration, we managed to convince the Americans to join the work in this direction and achieve the release, among others, of Andrzej Poczobut, but also many others. Of course, the Americans also acted within their own interests,» said Przydacz.
According to him, European diplomacy should also intensify its activities regarding Belarusian political prisoners.
«However, today I see no reason to change the sanctions policy, unless the Belarusian authorities truly begin to change their internal and international policy. At the moment, I do not see such far-reaching readiness on the part of Minsk,» said the representative of the President of Poland.
About Belarusian Potash and Sanctions
Answering Svaboda's question about the possibility of resuming the export of Belarusian potash fertilizers through the European Union, so that Belarus would ultimately pay money not to Russia, but to ports in Poland and the Baltic countries, Przydacz stated that Poland does not support a far-reaching liberalization of economic relations with Belarus.
«Even if these fertilizers go through Russia, they bring fewer profits to the Belarusian regime and are less competitive in international markets. This creates certain difficulties for the authorities in Minsk. Because sanctions are not an end in themselves. At least, it's not about imposing sanctions just for the sake of sanctions. Their goal was to force Belarus to make certain policy changes.»
To Svaboda's clarifying question whether this means that Poland should not help the US in restoring trade with Belarus, including on the issue of Belarusian fertilizers, Przydacz replied:
«If the Americans are planning any changes in the trade sphere, I will be critical of it. It is impossible to change the policy of other states with one phone call, even from the most influential politician, diplomat, official, or journalist. One must look at everything through the prism of one's own interests and weigh different arguments.»
«The price of normalizing relations with the West was not excessively high for Lukashenka»
Przydacz called himself a proponent of a tough course towards Belarus and reminded that Belarus had a chance to normalize relations with Poland.
«The price of this for Belarus was not excessively high. We expected very clear things: that the opposition would not be persecuted, that conditions would be created for the realization of freedom of speech, we wanted the Polish minority not to be persecuted. None of these conditions were fulfilled by Alexander Lukashenka. Therefore, today there is no reason for Poland to change its policy.»
According to the representative of the Chancellery of the President of Poland, the sanctions have partially achieved their goal, as they have created tools that can now be used in negotiations with the Belarusian authorities.
«For it to be possible to talk about a potential warming today, there had to be some starting point. And for the Americans today to be able to talk, for example, about the release of political prisoners in exchange for lifting sanctions on Belavia, Belavia first had to be subjected to these sanctions,» said the Polish politician.
Przydacz also recalled earlier attempts by Warsaw to pursue a softer policy towards Minsk.
«Personally, I remember a period when attempts were made to pursue a slightly softer policy towards Belarus. At that time, it brought several positive results. I think Poles living in Belarus had a slightly easier life then. Polish cemeteries were being restored, schools were more or less functioning. But Alexander Lukashenka chose a different path and launched not only brutal repression of his own citizens. Poland then reacted accordingly by imposing sanctions. I remember this well, as I myself was responsible in Warsaw for preparing these sanctions packages. And it was no longer just about actions against its own citizens – a hybrid operation was launched, effectively an aggression operation against Poland on the Polish-Belarusian border.»
According to Przydacz, he now advocates maintaining a tough course towards the Belarusian authorities. He also skeptically assessed the mechanism for releasing political prisoners as a result of negotiations between Washington and Minsk.
«The Americans are indeed conducting some dialogue. So far, it is happening at the level of prisoner exchanges or releases. It looks like this: Lukashenka releases several dozen prisoners, and the next day detains new ones. And in this way, he constantly maintains this 'currency' with which he can trade.»
«Europeans are not at all obliged to follow the Americans»
Przydacz stressed that even if Washington continues to ease some restrictions against Belarus, this does not mean an automatic change in the European Union's policy.
«It must be remembered that all this is interrelated to some extent. Even if the Americans propose something, Europeans are not at all obliged to follow them. And today the situation is such that even after the lifting of certain sanctions, some things are still impossible to do, because they depend on Europe, on us, on the European Union, on Poland, and on our voice, and not just on Washington's voice.»
To Svaboda's question whether the US administration tried to persuade Poland to change its policy towards Belarus, Przydacz answered in the negative.
«No, they didn't talk to us about that. The Americans never pressured us on the issue of Belarus. The President discussed Belarus, the Belarusian regime, on September 3 last year in the context of Andrzej Poczobut. At that time, he asked President Trump to help free Andrzej Poczobut. We are glad that thanks to this direct involvement of the American administration and diplomacy, our hero was released. I think this is a positive outcome. There was no pressure on other issues.»
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