Łukašenka claims to have extended friendly hand to Warsaw

November 11, Pozirk. Alaksandr Łukašenka has expressed hope that Warsaw would “consider the friendly hand of cooperation extended by Belarus,” in his message on occasion of Poland’s Independence Day.

He noted that the October parliamentary election in Poland demonstrated voters’ “desire to stop the pointless search for internal disagreements and external threats” and stressed that good-neighborhood is the best security guarantee for Poland, not “the unfounded militarization and arms race,” the Belarusian leader’s press office reported.

Łukašenka has indicated his readiness to engage with Poland on several occasions this month. However, tension remains high as he refuses to free Andrzej Poczobut (Andrej Pačobut), a Polish journalist and minority activist imprisoned on politically-motivated charges, and keeps open the illegal migration route via Belarus to the European Union.

Warsaw did not recognize him as president of Belarus after the disputed presidential election in 2020.