Former Polish defense minister says democratic Belarus should join NATO, EU 

February 28, Pozirk. A democractic Belarus must join both NATO and the European Union, Janusz Onyszkiewicz, former Polish defense minister, told participants at a book launch party in Warsaw on February 27.

“Belarus in NATO means that it will no longer ‘hang over’ Ukraine, which, I am absolutely sure, will emerge from the confrontation as an independent country.

“Although I am not quite sure, what shape its territory will be and will it be able to achieve the maximum program of regaining the territories that once belonged to it.”

Onyszkiewicz noted the need for nationwide consent for joining NATO, which may be difficult in Belarus, he said. Most Ukrainians started supporting NATO only after the Russian attack, he added.

The collection of essays titled Belarus in NATO was edited by Andrej Sannikaŭ, a former Belarusian foreign minister and a former opposition presidential hopeful, and published by the European Belarus public campaign. It includes analyses by European and American experts of the prospects of Belarus’ relations with the bloc.