World

Poland's Ex-Foreign Minister Wants Warsaw to Improve Relations With Russia

Russian-Polish relations have reached a low point in recent years, with the two countries unable to see eye to eye on energy security, NATO's military buildup on Russia's borders, or the construction of a missile defense shield on Polish territory which Russia believes would challenge global strategic stability.
Sputnik

Polish ex-foreign minister and opposition Civic Platform Party leader Grzegorz Schetyna has pledged to make an effort to improve icy Russian-Polish relations, saying doing so would be beneficial for Polish businesses and the tourism sector, Do Rzeczy magazine has reported.

The politician accused the ruling Law and Justice Party of clamping down on cross border cooperation with Russia. "Why were they so bothered in having entrepreneurs, businesses, tourists, people working normally, for the border to be open and for it to be easier to communicate?" Schetyna asked.

Schetyna promised that if the Civic Platform comes to power, it would work to restore good-neighborly relations with Moscow. "I want to say very clearly that if a representative of our coalition, the Civic Platform, becomes head of the foreign ministry, we will restore the small cross-border movement and return to normal good-neighborly relations. This is simply necessary," he said.

Schetyna made the remarks in Elblag, a city in northern Poland not far from the border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which he visited to mark his support for the Civil Platform's candidate for mayor.

Discuss