Despite opposing views by Poland and Russia on a number of bilateral and international issues, foreign minister Lavrov's visit in Warsaw has evoked mostly positive reactions in political quarters.  

Slawek Szefs reports

Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski and his Russian guest had not avoided difficult topics in their discussions. The same was observed in Sergei Lavrov's talks with PM Donald Tusk.  

Evaluating the visit minister Sikorski drew attention to various, sometimes contradicting interests of Warsaw and Moscow with regard to the so-called post-Soviet region: 'We would like to see these countries in the Eastern Partnership project. They are becoming ever more compatible with the EU, while Russia considers the opposite. But there are issues on which Poland and Russia may have, and often do have, similar views. For example, matters related to climatic change.' 

Another difficult matter has been the Russian stand on the US anti-missile shield. Poland has just signed an agreement on locating a rocket interceptor base of the system on its territory. Russia has been frowning at the perspective and the Kremlin even resorted on several occasions with threats of employing counter measures, treating the Polish-US deal as jeopardizing Russian security. Moscow has been pressing for the presence of its military inspectors in Poland to monitor the situation and Warsaw did not say no, emphasized the Polish head of diplomacy at a press conference after the meetings: 'Russia has asked Poland to propose means of building confidence in mutual relations. Our deputies in charge of security policy shall be meeting shortly, while a few days earlier we intend to present a non-paper memorandum that would define the basis for such talks. The initiative is on the Polish side.'   

Reporters present at the conference of both foreign ministers on Thursday were quick to notice the absence of the Georgian topic and the crisis situation in the Caucuses, subjects many had expected to play a dominant role in the Warsaw discussions of the Russian foreign minister. 

Independent political commentator Andrzej Krajewski is confident these problems had been given due attention in the eye to eye meetings with Polish hosts, however open discussion on them would run counter to common diplomatic sense, he argues: 'You do not publicly say about all the differences you have. You'll probably talk about this in private, if you at least want to know your neighbor's position. And you want him to understand somehow your position. This is why during the press conference of both ministers Georgia was not present. Does this mean any change in Polish position? I don't think so. There are no signs of that. I think it was the result of politcal realism.'  

Head of the European Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee Jacek Saryusz-Wolski also expressed satisfaction with the results of minister Lavrov's Polish visit: 'The sides are quite apart in their positions. The state of relations between the EU as a whole and Russia hasn't been so tense in many years. So it's good that communication channels remain open for both sides to explain their motives. It is important that problems substantial for Polish interests, but considered to be lesser from the entire European perspective, be resolved. Matters not marked by extreme differences should be discussed through dialogue. That is why I assess this visit positively.'