Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the EU had built a correct policy towards Belarus and in particular the country's leader, Alexander Lukashenko. "We see very efficient ways of dealing with the dictator, military and secret police. Anyone who has visited Belarus five years ago and then today, knows how much trouble are now posed by the people to the dictator," said Donald Tusk, stressing that the Western democratic values could be adopted in every state.
Tusk vehemently denied that the EU’s welcoming approach to Belarus and Ukraine had failed, given that there was a dictator (Alexander Lukashenko) still in power in the former, and that the historically undemocratic Viktor Yanukovych has won elections in the latter,» reports «The Guardian.»
«We should believe in the strength and vitality of the values which constitute the EU and which neighbouring states can believe in and aspire to join. It should be an aspiration of the EU to have more and more neighbours wanting to join,» said Donald Tusk.
Donald Tusk also accused Europe of double standards, hypocritical attitude towards the protection of human rights in various countries. «We should avoid this ambiguity at all costs, this sense that Europe only takes action when it is comfortable to do so or where the oil is,» — said the head of the Polish government.
«If we want to protect people against dictators or repression or torture, don’t you need that rule to be universal so as to not end up with a situation where we do so only when it is comfortable, profitable and safe?» Donald Tusk asks the rhetorical question.
As Telegraf previously reported, after the presidential elections in Belarus, Poland was among the first to impose sanctions on the Belarusian leadership as protest against the victory of Alexander Lukashenko and also against forceful suppression of the opposition rally on December 19 in Minsk. Sanctions against Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and several hundred officers were introduced on January 17. In addition, since January 1, 2011 Poland has abolished the national visa fee for Belarus to facilitate the visa regime for representatives of the Belarusian civil society.
