The desire of the government circles of democratic Poland" to have good relations with Russia was stressed by President Aleksander Kwasniewski during his Thursday meeting with the staff of the Oriental Studies Centre here. He noted that Russia was an important participant of the reforms on the European continent. Today, the Head of the Polish state said, "not only Poland's hopes for European stability are linked with Russia's progress along the road of democracy and reforms." At the same time, Kwasniewski believes that "one should not forget about the possible dangers, too, because a whole line of political groups in Russia are now speculating on great-power sentiments and their popularity in the society is tending to grow due to the difficult living conditions in the country and the still unmaterialised necessity of economic reforms". The problems, discussed during the meeting at the afore-said Centre, which also shapes Poland's policy vis-a-vis the countries of the former USSR, included methods of "neutralising the possible negative influence of those circles in Russia, which are coming out against Poland's accession to NATO", and also the possibility of "promoting trust and partnership between Poland and its eastern neighbours." Assessing Poland's relations with the other countries of the former USSR, President Kwasniewski stressed that the independent, sovereign and developing Ukraine was among the main prerequisites for stability in Europe." He noted that Poland's attitude to Byelorussia is a separate and very difficult problem". However, "being as we are realists, we must learn to coexist with the present Minsk authorities and must seek ways to influence their policy." The main principle underlying Poland's policy towards the eastern neighbours, Kwasniewski said, boils down to the following: "To be present, to be active, to be open, and to know what we want." Poland's trump card in foreign policy, he believes, is the fact that there is a consensus among ... Read more