2020-09-17 19:18 update: 2020-09-18, 12:41
Premier Mateusz Morawiecki podczas konferencji prasowej po uroczystości podpisania deklaracji w sprawie polsko-litewskiego partnerstwa strategicznego oraz w sprawie Białorusi. Fot. PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in Vilnius on Thursday that an EU support fund for Belarus should contain at least EUR 1 billion.
Speaking during inter-governmental talks between the Polish and Lithuanian governments, Morawiecki said the fund should be significant in order for the Belarusian economy to "stabilise investors' expectations." He added that it was very important for the development of the Belarusian economy to open up to goods and services in addition to stabilisation mechanisms.
"That's why Poland today invites Belarusian entrepreneurs who want their headquarters to be in Belarus, to provide some services, or to relocate them for various reasons, including the anti-freedom (measures) that the Belarusian government is currently unfortunately applying," Morawiecki said.
Morawiecki said that during the Thursday talks he presented plans for economic aid (for Belarus), which "we want to present to the European Council next week". "They met with a very friendly reception from Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis and the President of the Republic of Lithuania (Gitanas Nauseda)," he said.
The Polish PM added that the plan assumes the establishment of a stabilisation fund. "Perhaps with the participation of the International Monetary Fund and EU funds, so that Belarus and the Belarusian economy could count on stabilisation for some time, especially when it comes to the stability of the currency and other financial parameters, but it is also a kind of opening of the economy" - he stressed.
The plan also foresees a common EU fund for small and medium-sized enterprises and support for Belarusian entrepreneurs so that they could benefit from the single market to a greater extent.
Morawiecki asked about conditions that should be met for the fund to be launched and what amount should be allocated to it, replied that the fund should be significant. "That is such that in the current situation of the Belarusian economy would help stabilise investors' expectations and to enable the Belarusian government to undertake new obligations, i.e. not less than EUR 1 billion, at least at this stage," said Morawiecki.
The Polish PM pointed out that the Thursday meeting took place at a special time, full of ground-breaking events. "This is not only an epidemic, but also events in our eastern neighbour, in Belarus, which are very important from the point of view of Poland's and Lithuania's future relations with our eastern neighbours," he said.
In this context, he thanked the Lithuanian authorities for their joint and unanimous cooperation in helping the repressed people in Belarus.
"It must be said out loud (...), it is extremely important for Europe to realise how important a free and sovereign Belarus is for the security and prosperity of the entire continent," said Morawiecki emphasising the importance of economic aid for Belarus. (PAP)
