EU ministers to ask European Commission to revise relations with Belarus

“There is still time to make a step back, and I hope this will happen", Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said today ahead of the meeting of foreign ministers from EU member states. “I will talk to my colleagues and ask for solidarity so that they help Belarus realize which important opportunities it can miss if it continues a policy of persecutions", said Sikorski. "I believe that we should continue and reinforce our policy of conditionality towards Belarus. I mean that Belarus can aspire for various European institutions on condition that there is progress in human rights situation and in how ethnic minorities and the opposition are treated".

According to Sikorski, the bloc's foreign ministers will ask EU's foreign relations chief, Catherine Ashton and the European Commission to revise relations with Belarus.

In the view of Radoslaw Sikorski, members of the Union of Poles were harrassed because they are Belarus citizens. He added that Europe is not taking a neutral position towards the rights of ethnic minorities and public activities.

“We believe that the countries that hope to play an active role in the neighborhood policy should move towards our standards as regards ethnic minorities", the Polish foreign minister noted.

Sikorski added that Belarus is well aware of EU's conditions for improving relations which among others include the reform of electoral laws, media freedom and the freedom of non-governmental organizations.