Sikorski: EU will take care of the 10 million Europeans from Belarus

• 27.08.2012, 14:00

European Dialogue on Modernization with Belarus should be largely developed inside Belarus and target both Belarus' society and authorities.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said at a workshop in Tallinn on August 27.

The event is held in the Estonian capital to train representatives of Belarus' civil society.

While opening the workshop, Mr. Sikorski said that the European Union «would take care of the 10 million Europeans from Belarus» and expressed hope that Belarus' civil society would do more to promote the European Dialogue on Modernization with Belarus and the Eastern Partnership in the country.

Mr. Sikorski emphasized the importance of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum for developing contacts between the European Union and its eastern neighbors.

The EU's recently established European Endowment for Democracy may become a tool for providing financial support to Belarusian NGOs, the Polish foreign minister said.

Poland has already contributed five million euros to the fund, he noted.

Citizens of the Eastern Partnership countries will be allowed to receive diplomatic training at a university that will open in Poland soon, Mr. Sikorski announced.