Andrzej Stasiuk on the West's indifference towards Eastern Europe

Disappointed with the lack of Western support for the opposition in Belarus, Polish author Andrzej Stasiuk harshly criticises Western Europeans for their indifference towards the EU aspirations of Eastern Europeans: "What has Europe to gain from Belarus? (is there really such a place, anyway?) Why does it need Ukraine, that traitor who accepted the world's expressions of solidarity, blankets, sleeping bags and TV reporters and yet for a year – a whole year! – has made no attempt to make itself more like Luxembourg. Considering the mountains of sleeping bags and all the camera teams you would at least expect Ukraine to try. What has Europe to gain from Bosnia-Herzegovina? They just want to split up again anyway. And what good can Serbia do us with its complicated alphabet and its inborn thirst for blood? The mere thought of it... The true Europeans are those who uphold European values and know how to fight for them – those willing to sacrifice their own lives and freedom for those values. If it's something else that makes a European a European, then we can forget the old Continent."

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