Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg
22.06.2021
The EU's engagement in Belarus and Iraq as well as relations with Latin American and Caribbean countries were the main items of Monday's FAC meeting in Luxembourg. The campaign of cyber attacks against Poland was also an important element of the talks. The ministers met with Swiatlana Cichanouska. Poland was represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zbigniew Rau.
During the discussion on Belarus, Minister Rau thanked for the publication the economic support plan for a democratic Belarus, which is an offer of EU to Belarusian society in the event of introducing democratic changes. He expressed his satisfaction with the implementation of the European Council conlusions taken in response to the forced landing of the Ryanair plane in Minsk. The head of Polish diplomacy emphasized the importance of the Council adopting another package of sanctions against persons and entities responsible for the repression and abduction of Raman Pratashevich, and the progress of work on targeted sectoral economic sanctions: "The sanctions are reversible: their possible lifting depends on the further actions of Minsk, including to stop repressions, release prisoners and start a dialogue with the society, which should lead to free and fair elections” - he stressed.
Ahead of the meeting EU ministers met with Swiatlana Cichanouska. Minister Rau thanked for perseverance and commitment to the Belarusian society and assured of Poland's commitment to human rights activities in Belarus.
In the discussion on Iraq, the actions of the government in Baghdad to strengthen the sovereignty and security of the state were discussed. The EU's continued commitment to the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq in the military and humanitarian dimension was promised.
With regard to the cooperation of the EU's relations with Latin American and Caribbean countries, the priority of fighting the pandemic and accelerating the supply of vaccines was outlined, while enhancing the visibility of EU action in this area. The growing influence of Russia and China in the region was noted. The importance of trade and association agreements between the EU and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean was emphasized.
The Polish side expressed the expectation that heads of state and government would confirm the importance of the so-called five principles as the basis of the EU's policy towards Russia at the next meeting of the European Council (June 24-25).
Minister Rau also informed about the campaign of cyber and disinformation attacks, probably originating in Russia, launched in September 2020, targeted against members of the government and parliament of Poland, as well as some Polish journalists.
