His Excellency Sergei Andreyev, Ambassador to the Russian Federation in the Republic of Poland, for Polish thought and Against the Censur, are talking: Mateusz Piskorski and Tomasz Jankowski.
Mr Ambassador, for years we have been talking about possible scenarios of defrosting Polish-Russian relations. Recently, a summit in China was held between Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. How much do you think this chance exists at Poland-Russia level?
– I don't see any reason to change our relationship. Neither the authorities nor the opposition, the full Polish political class, express this desire. It takes 2 to tango.
In Poland we are convinced that Russia will always strive to master ours and so our relations cannot be good. So what is the desired model of relations with Poland according to the Russian Federation authorities?
– Of course, we have neither the will nor plans to dominate Poland. We don't request that. president Putin late said that as the largest country in the planet we have adequate territory. We don't request any extras. The issues of our relation must be resolved calmly. We're neighbors, and you gotta live well with your neighbors. Therefore, we are ready for any agreement, if specified readiness is on the Polish side. She's not here yet.
Are there any areas where our countries are officially cooperating?
- Trade. This year it will be worth about $5 billion, against over $20 billion last year, but inactive there is an exchange. besides humanitarian, though very limited. Russia is open to Polish tourists, although it does not work the another way around. The volume of our relation is reduced to a minimum.
As we know, the Polish authorities not only respect the sanctions of the European Union, but besides add their own. It happened that a Russian athlete could not come to Warsaw. And are there any rules in the Russian Federation that would hinder the Polish citizen from staying, working or studying?
– No, that's not a decision. You can even enter via an electronic visa without the request to come to the consulate and individual appearance.
So Russia is not utilizing symmetrical responses?
- Depends. Sometimes we are forced to respond to the hostile steps of the Polish side. However, we do not consider it appropriate in all cases. For tourism, for example.
There have been strict EC guidelines on the entry of FR citizens into the European Union. Have there been cases in Poland of car seizures with Russian registrations?
– We don't have that kind of information. We are acquainted with 1 case erstwhile the Polish Border defender turned the car back on the border due to this, but did not confiscate it. Russian citizens simply took note of this decision.
The European Commission has adopted a budgetary framework for the alleged support of Ukraine to be covered by frozen Russian Federation citizens. What kind of consequence can Russia expect? How about an increase in the price of resources that Europe is buying from Russia anyway?
– Don't rush things like that. We will surely find the means to respond, but only after a thorough examination of the matter.
But it would consequence that Poland gave precedence to another entities in anti-Russian politics?
– I am not following this kind of race between our “non-partners” from the West. It's hard to get that summary.
Nevertheless, the Baltic countries stay in the avant-garde of rusophobia. There is discrimination against people in our region due to the fact that they talk Russian, and there it even occurs at the legal level. Did the Moscow authorities effort to do something about it? We are frequently told that Russia "uses" Russian-speaking minorities, but possibly it is the opposite, i.e. the European Union knowingly accepted specified a policy to face Russian-speaking citizens?
– I don't know if this has been thoughtful, but we have been utilized for a long time to the fact that double standards are applied in human rights or in national minorities in the West. What happened in Estonia or Latvia is simply a clear violation of the fundamental principles, which our Western non-partners are so arrogant of. The Council of Europe and the Venice Commission do not work here. It all depends on who's hurt.
So there are no instruments for effective action in this situation?
– While we were inactive in the Council of Europe, erstwhile we could inactive address the European Court of Human Rights erstwhile we were in the UN Human Rights Council, we raised these issues everywhere and protested, but global law works so that sovereign states take action under the instruments, according to good will and if they do not want to fulfil their obligations - no 1 can force anything on them. erstwhile we protested the extension of NATO to the east and appealed to commitments at a higher level, we heard that it was "a different situation" or "another case".
We will shortly have a second anniversary of Russia's collective safety proposals. Can we anticipate a repeat of the peculiar Military Operations?
– Of course, the situation has changed since December 2021, as well as April 2022, as the talks of the Russian and Ukrainian delegation continued. We then reached a draft agreement, but under the force of the “collective Western” Ukrainian side departed from these arrangements. A lot has changed since then and this should be taken into account.
Or is there a request for improvement of global institutions, e.g. in cooperation with BRICS, where Russia plays a leading role?
International law is not ideal. But so far, there's nothing better. There is simply a law that is based primarily on the United Nations Charter and another documents, and as long as it exists, it must be respected in its entirety. Minister Sergei Lavrow late wrote about this. You can read his text in Polish on the embassy website. From our point of view, there is simply a law adopted by the global community and there are "rules" to which our Western "non-partners" are inactive calling. The problem, therefore, is not the imperfection of global law, but the reluctance to comply with it.
Or is this about the western "non-partners" burning bridges? If the global Criminal Court, for typical political reasons, wants to prosecute the Russian President, then it is making it hard even to organise a possible safety talks?
– Their goal is to defeat Russia on the battlefield. Not with your own hands, of course, but with the Ukrainians. Removing Russia from the global arena as a sovereign actor with appropriate influence on planet affairs. It was said openly.
Can prof. Richard Sakwa be right that we have a “second Cold War”?
– I think so. No comparison will be 1 100 percent appropriate, but in this case, I guess so.
Can the demands made by Russia in 2021 be interpreted as a request that Poland leave NATO?
– It was about dismissing military infrastructure, according to the Founding Act of Russia-NATO of 1997.
Does this apply equally to the European Union? This is said in the context of the peculiar Military Operations in Ukraine that Russia has demanded Kiev to resign from EU membership?
– It wasn't like that at the time. Now we have doubts due to the fact that the nature of the European Union has changed. We have always seen it as an economical and political alliance, but we now see that the EU is actively active in military matters, including Ukraine's military support.
Was the first step towards conflicting the EU with Russia to adopt a circumstantial EU east Partnership task that excluded the Russian Federation from this programme?
– It was not as harshly perceived as it is now, but as the time showed: our partners from Poland, Sweden and the European Union were then looking very far ahead and their position was different from what we were told.
Was the east Partnership no longer a caesium, after which we cannot separate between individual players within the European Union?
– We can't afford not to know the difference. I am in favour of a retail approach circumstantial to relations with each country. There's no request to generalize.
Could the elections held in 1 of the countries of this "collective Western" change anything in relations with Russia?
– It depends on the situation. There is no difference in Poland, but in another countries it is.
Do you observe anti-Polish sentiments among politicians or journalists in Russia?
– Among politicians there is simply a understandable reaction to what we see in Poland, whether we hear from Poland. But as for the moods of society, I frequently find myself surprised.
Does the attack on the ambassador have any legal continuity?
– We received information from the D.A.'s office rather a long time ago that the investigation of the assault on the ambassador is inactive ongoing, although we do not know its results, and the cases of insulting the ambassador and the flag were dropped due to deficiency of symmetrical work in law in the Russian Federation.
Think Poland, No. 47-48 (19-26.11.2023)
