Visegrad Group urges Ukraine not to be afraid of Russia

Possible consequences of the deterioration of relations with Russia should not be dramatized, political director of the Foreign Ministry of Poland Jaroslaw Bratkiewicz told a press conference, ForUm correspondent reports.

According to the diplomat, when the countries of the Visegrad Group (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary) were in process of joining the NATO, Moscow expressed "loud and passionate criticism" as well. "Russia said that after the entry into NATO relations between our countries would deteriorate sharply. That did not happen. I also remember that when we approached the membership in the European Union, the Russians expressed active fear that their Kaliningrad region would be isolated. However, now it is the most open Russian region," the expert said.

In general, now there is a rising trend in political and economic relations between Russia and the Visegrad Group, he continued. "I think the same thing, in the end, will happen with Ukraine after the conclusion of the Association Agreement. We can easily combine the normal economic, political and social relations with the Russian Federation and the compliance with the European Union agreement," the representative of the Polish Foreign Ministry said.

In turn, the political director of the Foreign Ministry of Hungary Szabolcs Takacs said that nobody should take the Vilnius summit as a game in which someone will win and someone will lose. "Moreover, I am convinced that in the end Russia will benefit from the association of Ukraine with the EU," the diplomat stressed.