The EU must open the door to a rapprochement with Belarus and support reconstruction and peace in Georgia and Moldova if it is to counter Russia's growing assertiveness in eastern Europe, EU foreign ministers said. "We should encourage Belarus to improve the way they conduct their elections and we should give them incentives. We need a process of rebuilding trust," Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski told DPA news agency from the ministers' informal meeting in Avignon, France, on Saturday, Sept. 6. "It is a very good time to rethink our relations with Belarus. Belarus is sending desperate signals to the West," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas said. Officially, Saturday's talks were set to focus on the EU's relationship with Russia and Georgia following their war in August.
"We should encourage Belarus to improve the way they conduct their elections and we should give them incentives. We need a process of rebuilding trust," Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski told DPA news agency from the ministers' informal meeting in Avignon, France, on Saturday, Sept. 6.
"It is a very good time to rethink our relations with Belarus. Belarus is sending desperate signals to the West," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas said.
Officially, Saturday's talks were set to focus on the EU's relationship with Russia and Georgia following their war in August.
