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Sikorski: 'Europe could have prevented Ukrainian crisis'

PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge 21.07.2014 08:36
Poland's foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski has said the Ukrainian crisis could have been prevented had Europe taken a more concerted stance against Russia.

Radoslaw
Radoslaw Sikorski. Photo: PAP/Tytus Zmijewski

In an interview with German paper Welt am Sonntag in the wake of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 crash, Sikorski also said he had sounded the alarm about the increased missile capabilities of the pro-Russian separatists, following his trip to Kiev on Tuesday.

“This crisis in Ukraine could have been prevented,” the minister stressed.

“Europe did too little to make an impact on Russia's conduct at the various stages of the conflict,” he argued.

“When Russia imposed a trade boycott on Ukraine last year to punish it for the European course it was taking, I pleaded with my colleagues to take action,” Sikorski said.

“If we had shown Moscow the limits then, and demonstrated our solidarity with Ukraine, this escalation would probably not have happened.”

The foreign minister also noted that he had “long advocated that we Europeans finally take our defense seriously.”

Sikorski reflected that “we Eastern Europeans have fewer illusions about the neo-imperialist tendencies of Russia.”

However, he acknowleged that Poland had itself tried to pursue a policy of reconciliation with Russia in recent years, and in this it had “shared the hopes” of other European nations.

“But if borders are changed by force under the pretext of protecting minorities in another country, then we cannot look the other away,” he added. (nh)

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