Top diplomats of Poland, Belarus hold rare meeting

Warsaw, Poland - The top diplomats of Poland and Belarus met on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly, marking the first high-level meeting between the two nations in a decade. This rare encounter comes as Poland sees potential for warming ties with its neighbor, with Warsaw highlighting progress in border relations and prisoner releases as reasons for improved relations.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski met Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov during the UN General Assembly, stating that the situation along the border has normalized and that prisoners, including Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut, have been liberated. Sikorski emphasized that the meeting was an introductory step, with further discussions taking place at various levels, including the opening of a new embassy building in Minsk.

Both countries have a complex history, with Belarus suppressing mass anti-Lukashenko protests in 2020 and allowing Russia to use Minsk as a launchpad for its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Relations between Poland and Belarus have been strained for years, with issues such as political repression in Belarus, a migrant crisis at the border, and accusations of orchestrating a migrant crisis by Minsk.

Poland, a NATO member, has built a wall along the border and has been accused of violating migrants' rights through systemic pushbacks. The last high-level meeting between the two neighbors took place in 2016, when Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visited Minsk.