{"id":188011,"date":"2026-05-18T18:59:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/188011\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T18:59:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:59:29","slug":"polish-fm-appears-to-suggest-talking-to-lukasenka-without-regard-for-manners","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/188011\/","title":{"rendered":"Polish FM appears to suggest talking to \u0141uka\u0161enka without regard for manners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Still from the YouTube video)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

May 18, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Polish Foreign Minister Rados\u0142aw Sikorski suggested \u201cold-school\u201d methods for talks with Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, citing the Belarusian ruler\u2019s background as a Soviet collective farm (kolkhoz) manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u0141uka\u0161enka is a stark product of the Soviet collective farm system, and if you talk to him the old school way, it works,\u201d Sikorski said in an interview posted on his YouTube channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word \u201ckolkhoz\u201d (collective farm) in post-Soviet countries often carries a pejorative sense of a community of unsophisticated, provincial and ill-mannered people. The word\u2019s negative tone comes from its association with the backwardness and coercion of the Soviet collectivized agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking about present-day relations between Poland and Belarus, Sikorski said that the two countries are maintaining diplomatic ties, with Poland actually opening a new embassy building in Minsk this year. However, these relations are not easy, as Belarus oppresses civil society, above all the Polish minority, embodied by its \u201cmartyr and representative\u201d Andrej Pa\u010dobut (Andrzej Pochobut), he said.\u00a0 According to Sikorski, Pa\u010dobut is \u201caching\u201d to return to Belarus, but he has warned the dissident against going to his home country and urged him to \u201cdistance himself\u201d from his prison experience instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sikorski expressed hope that \u0141uka\u0161enka would continue releasing political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sikorski acknowledged \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s talent for political maneuvering. \u201cVladimir Putin would probably like \u0141uka\u0161enka to send Belarusian soldiers to the frontlines in Ukraine, but he has not agreed to this,\u201d Sikorski said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka is preserving autonomy to a certain extent, but it is shrinking, as the integration of the defense systems of Russia and Belarus is almost complete, especially when it comes to air defenses, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sikorski recalled that Russia had helped \u0141uka\u0161enka \u201csurvive the social revolution after the stolen election [in 2020].\u201d Such experiences create a bond of solidarity among dictators, he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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