“It seems that some European leaders are unaware that their activities are read as an attempt to warm up relations, and if they are, their politics are misguided,” Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz was cited as saying in an interview with Reuters published on Thursday.
Friendlier relations with the Kremlin could signal that Europe will let it get away with aggression, such as the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, which could set a dangerous precedent for the future, Przydacz was cited as saying by the news agency.
According to Reuters, his comments referred to the recent detention of over a thousand protesters demanding free elections in Russia.
Przydacz also said that Kremlin’s new decree fast-tracking Russian passports for people living in Donbass region in Ukraine, where a conflict is underway between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces, was another step showing Russia’s aggression, according to Reuters.
Once the new European Commission is finalised later this year, a more firm joint EU stance on the issue of passports could be possible, Reuters cited Przydacz as saying.
(jh/pk)
Source: Reuters/PAP