Official Minsk resumes diplomatic pressure on Warsaw

Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, told Wsieci last week, that relations between Minsk and Warsaw had stabilized, unlike relations between Poland and Ukraine. However, unlike Polish diplomats, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry has emphasized the difference in historical-ideological views. That said, the statement of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry has openly dissented with that of the Polish Foreign Ministry about the absence of ideological disputes and called into question Polish diplomatic successes in Eastern policy.

Allegedly, the Belarusian authorities were displeased with the fact that Poland continued to support the Belsat TV channel, Charter 97 website and other media, or simply used Poland as a balance in their European policy. Perhaps, the Belarusian authorities consider the Polish foreign policy as not independent enough, shaped within the framework outlined by the US and the EU.

Meanwhile, Minsk’s anti-Polish attacks would serve as an evidence that strengthening of relations with the West was not in opposition to the alliance with Russia. Amid reputational gains on the international arena following the OSCE PA session held in Minsk, Minsk could resume a more rigid rhetoric vis-à-vis Warsaw.