Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 29 August (BelTA) - Belarus and Poland need to find common ground to collaborate more effectively, Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Boleslav Pirshtuk said as he met with Polish Sejm Deputy Speaker Ryszard Terlecki , BelTA has learned.

“We are neighbors, we shared a common history. We certainly need to find common ground for more effective interaction,” Boleslav Pirshtuk said. He expressed the hope that the visit of the Polish delegation will be filled with useful meetings and that new contacts will be established “I hope we will discuss different topics very frankly and properly. Clearly, we cannot resolve all issues at once during one meeting but we need to move forward and improve the effectiveness of our work,” he said. He also assured that the Belarusian MPs look forward to productive cooperation.

For his part, Ryszard Terlecki recalled that he visited Belarus a year ago. According to the vice speaker of the Sejm, last year was a good one for Belarus and Poland as the relations between the two countries evolved quite intensively. “There were numerous meetings. I think many of them were very useful and necessary,” he stated.

“For us Belarus is an important neighbor. We share a common history, culture, our languages are similar. representatives of our states maintain close contacts,” the vice speaker said.

Ryszard Terlecki is convinced that the two countries need to work on development of the relations. “Economic contacts have become more intense. But the most important thing is the atmosphere of our meetings. We discuss various issues openly and draw attention to the fact that our countries are important in Europe, the region in which they are located,” he said.