Andreichenko suggests promoting Belarus-Poland parliamentary cooperation

    A Polish parliamentary delegation led by Deputy Marshal of the Sejm Ryszard Terlecki is in Belarus on a visit. The Polish MPs have met with the Speakers of both chambers of the Belarusian Parliament Vladimir Andreichenko and Mikhail Myasnikovich

   Vladimir Andreichenko noted that such meetings help bring the positions on certain issues closer and devise ways of developing relations (including inter-parliamentary ones) for the near-term. “Belarus and Poland are neighbors, and we are close not only geographically. Belarusian MPs are ready for dialogue and constructive and mutually beneficial cooperation,” he said.

“Today we have issues in the bilateral relations. There is nothing to hide. But we need to deal with them through dialogue in a constructive and pragmatic manner while respecting the sovereignty of each other,” the Speaker said. He is convinced that parliamentary diplomacy has an important role to play in this matter. According to Vladimir Andreichenko, he welcomed the decision of the Polish Sejm to set up a Belarusian Parliament friendship group, especially since a similar friendship group has already been created in the Belarusian Parliament. “On 11 September we will have the elections to the House of Representatives. I think that after the elections we must intensify our work on all fronts. This may include the exchange of visits, and exchange of experience in lawmaking,” the Speaker added.

With regard to trade and economic cooperation, Vladimir Andreichenko said that since 2011 much has been missed in the bilateral relations, and this situation needs to be corrected through joint efforts, contacts, tighter cooperation at the level of ministries and departments, the border regions. “Belarus pursues a multi-vector foreign policy. We cooperate both with the East and the West. We are interested in attracting foreign investment, new technologies,” he said. Vladimir Andreichenko assured that by working with the countries of the European Union and expanding economic cooperation with this integration association, Belarus pays great attention to the development of contacts with Poland.

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“We’ve discussed our trade and economic cooperation. Poland shows great interest in expanding the cooperation. Suffice it to say that in 2015 the bilateral commodity trade amounted to almost $2 billion. In January-May this year it made up $860 million. There are over 350 enterprises with Polish capital in Belarus. Last year Poland’s investments into the Belarusian economy totaled $125 million. Yet there is still great potential. Especially it concerns machine building, woodworking, IT, pharmaceutics”.

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Vladimir Andreichenko invited the Polish colleagues to participate in the international parliamentary forums which will be held in Belarus soon. One of such forums is a regular session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly which is scheduled for July 2017.

In turn, Ryszard Terlecki said:

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“Our visit shows the importance of the normalization of relations with the Republic of Belarus. Poland is interested in good relations with all countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including with Belarus, in their territorial integrity and sovereignty.
We’ve defined certain issues to be considered. First of all, it concerns our historical dialogue. For us it is important that the neighboring countries, which are not members of the European Union, have access directly to the EU through Poland. We hope the forthcoming parliamentary elections will go unchallenged and Belarus-EU relations will be further improved”.

All photos provided by press service of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus