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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 10, 2010 10:37:19 GMT -5
Belarusian opposition supports Union of Poles.
TheNews.Pl
10.02.2010 14:52
Belarusian opposition parties have declared their support for the Union of Poles in Belarus headed by Andzelika Borys.
This organisation, which is not recognised by the authorities in Minsk, has suffered repressions for several months.
On Monday Belarusian police ousted members of the Polish minority from their headquarters in Ivyanets, near Minsk. Aleksander Milinkevich, former candidate to the Belarusian presidential post and leader of the "For Freedom" Social Movement, said that the actions of the Minsk authorities are anti-Polish and anti-democratic.
"This is an attempt to control all organisations, even non-governmental ones," Milinkevich said. "It is an act against Belarus because it harms the interest of this country on its tough road to Europe," he continued, adding that "it is a violation of international agreements signed by Belarus and a breach of this country’s constitution."
The Polish Foreign Ministry has called Poland’s Ambassador to Belarus, Henryk Litwin, for consultations in Warsaw after the incident and has also summoned the Belarusian ambassador resident in Warsaw for talks.
On Friday the heads of diplomacy from Poland and Belarus are to meet in Warsaw. One of the main issues on the agenda will be the actions taken against the Union of Poles in Belarus led by Andzelika Borys.
A court is to decide on 15 February who is the legal owner of the Polish cultural centre in Ivyanets.
The Union of Poles in Belarus represents a Polish minority amounting to around 400,000. In 2005, Lukashenko launched a campaign against the Poles, claiming that it was a "fifth column" trying to destabilise his regime. (ab/jb)
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Post by White Cossack on Feb 10, 2010 21:14:24 GMT -5
Belarus "opposition" is actually active Polish minority stirring problems in Belarus.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 17, 2010 7:42:20 GMT -5
Poland at crossroads with Belarus.
TheNews.Pl
17.02.2010 09:05
‘We are standing at a crossroads,’ said foreign affairs official Jaroslaw Bratkiewicz about Poland’s current policy towards Belarus.
Reporting on the present situation in the neighbouring country following the recent repressions against the local Polish community, the head of the Foreign Ministry’s Eastern Department has stressed that the next step is up to authorities in Belarus.
Talking to the senatorial committee for the affairs of the Polish communities abroad, Bratkiewicz said it was the Belarusian authorities that had to resolve whether they would allow for a pluralistic activity of minority organizations. Otherwise, Poland will have to take action that would have a negative impact on the relations of Belarus with the Western world.
Maciej Szymanski, heading the Ministry’s Department of Cooperation with the Polish Diaspora, has assured the senators that Poland is ready to take steps, which they would rather, nonetheless, avoid.
“They received a list of issues in which Poland had, so far, voluntarily supported Belarus. Our country was its promoter on the political arena in Europe. And now Poland may either choose to refrain from continuing these efforts, to hinder or even torpedo them. The decision is up to Belarus, as none of these initiatives were unconditionally guaranteed to the country,” said Szymanski.
A court trial concerning the Polish House in Ivyenets continues today. Members of the Union of Poles in Belarus, unrecognized by Lukashenko’s regime, have been recently expelled from the facility. The outcome of the trial will show which route the Belarusian authorities have chosen to pursue, said Maciej Szymanski.
The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek said yesterday that, in his view, EU’s parliament should adopt a resolution on the issue.
"To us, it is very significant that the European Union acknowledges the repression against national minorities, predominantly the Polish one at this moment, but also other groups, such as non-governmental organizations or the democratic opposition, so that the European Union declares them impermissible,” stated Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Meanwhile, 37 out of 40 Polish activists who were detained in Belarus on Monday have been freed. (aba/mmj)
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Post by krakus on Feb 18, 2010 22:28:43 GMT -5
Fuck Lukashenko
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Post by Raven on Feb 19, 2010 17:30:37 GMT -5
yes, man is loser and disaster |
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Post by boroslav on Feb 19, 2010 19:35:18 GMT -5
Do some here support an Orange Revolution in Belarus, or something!?
Lukashenko is right. He fights the fifth column of the USA.
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Post by Raven on Feb 19, 2010 19:42:11 GMT -5
Do some here support an Orange Revolution in Belarus, or something!? Lukashenko is right. He fights the fifth column of the USA. Lukashenko is bad answer on situation. That`s what i think His way can`t beat USA/NATO/EU expansionism |
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Post by White Cossack on Feb 20, 2010 15:27:27 GMT -5
Do some here support an Orange Revolution in Belarus, or something!? Lukashenko is right. He fights the fifth column of the USA. Lukashenko is bad answer on situation. That`s what i think His way can`t beat USA/NATO/EU expansionism At least he opposes them and is pro Russia. |
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Post by pastir on Feb 20, 2010 20:51:13 GMT -5
But then again anybody who is in power in Belarus is going to be pro-Russian. It is a pro-Russian country so it can be no other way.
Lukashenka was useful and important in the 1990s when they managed to install a de facto anti-Russian regime even in Russia itself, but those days are gone now, so I think he may have served his usefulness.
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Post by boroslav on Feb 20, 2010 23:45:33 GMT -5
It's not just about the pro-Russian stance...
Belarus has the highest living standard amongst the CIS States.
It seems Lukashenko's mix of Socialism and Capitalism is not bad for Belarus.
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Post by pastir on Feb 21, 2010 2:18:18 GMT -5
How do you figure that? Do you have some data or sources?
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Post by boroslav on Feb 21, 2010 12:38:12 GMT -5
German wiki for Belarus names the UN as source, but doesn't have a link.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 22, 2010 7:11:09 GMT -5
EU to discuss latest Polish-Belarusian conflict.
TheNews.Pl
22.02.2010 00:01
EU foreign ministers are to discuss, Monday, concerns raised by Warsaw over the alleged repression of the Polish minority in Brussels.
Poland has asked for a discussion on the future of EU relations with Minsk. Heads of diplomacy of member states will review the latest developments relating to repression by Belarusian authorities of leaders and members of the Association of Poles.
No official declaration on the matter is expected, however, especially with regard to possible sanctions directed at the government led by authoritarian president Aleksander Lukashenko.
Leader of the Union of Poles in Belarus Andzelika Borys, one of up to 40 Poles detained last week, will meet with President Lech Kaczynski before flying to Warsaw today. President Lech Kaczynski has sent a letter to Aleksander Lukaszenko, expressing his concern.
Warsaw has complained that Polish minority leaders are being targeted by the regime after arrests of activists of the Union of Belarus, which Minsk fails to recognise as legitimate representatives. The Lukashenko government has chosen its own members to represent the Polish minority, much to the annoyance of Warsaw. A Belarusian court ruled last week that the headquarters of the ethnic Polish organization must be vacated and turned over to a group hand-picked by the government in Minsk.
The Polish government has led an initiative, with backing from Brussels, to normalise relations with Minsk, trying to bring the country in from the cold by including Belarus in the Eastern Partnership programme, which seeks to improve relations with ex-Soviet states. Previously imposed diplomatic sanctions against Belarus have been suspended and representatives of the Lukashenko government can presently travel freely again throughout the EU.
But the recent crackdown against Polish minority leaders, however, is seen as a rejection of the new, Polish-led EU initiative.
Last week, the EU’s new foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said: "I am disappointed by the recent arrests of 40 members of the Union of Poles and other civil society representatives in Belarus. […] I condemn police action against the Union of Poles and what appear to be attempts by the authorities to impose a new leadership on the Polish community,"
She warned that improved relations between Minsk and Brussels was dependant on the development of human rights in Belarus.
But Michael Emerson from the Brussels based Centre for European Policy Studies, told Polskie Radio that there is no consensus of how to deal with the regime in Minsk. Some are willing to maintain contacts with what many consider to be dictators, such as Lukashenko, he said, considering dialogue better than isolation. For the time being, the prevailing opinion is that economic sanctions would hit the people of Belarus harder than the regime itself, said the expert. (pg/ss/ab)
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 24, 2010 6:33:20 GMT -5
Poland not calling for sanctions against Belarus – for now. TheNews.Pl 23.02.2010 10:39 Poland’s foreign minister Radek Sikorski said yesterday that Warsaw has not called for EU diplomatic sanctions to be imposed on Belarus but does not rule out calling for travel restrictions of President Lukashenko and other top Belarusian officials in the near future. The Polish government has also threatened to try and bloc Minsk’s application for an IMF bail out package of repressions against the Polish minority in the ex-Soviet country does not stop immediately. EU heads of diplomacy, who discussed the issue at yesterday’s summit in Brussels, resolved that if the harassment of the Polish community does not abate, such a decision will be taken in April. “This is a step backwards,” she said after the meeting, referring to Belarus’s attitude to human rights of the minority population. Meanwhile, Andżelika Borys, head of the Union of Poles in Belarus - who was detained by Belarusian officials on February 17 with 40 other activists from the organization, who were on their way to a rally in the west of the country - is traveling to Brussels today to meet with the chairman of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek and Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Stefan Füle. It remains to be seen whether the EU will take a final stand on the matter. According to Joanna Kędzierska, from Polish Radio’s External Service broadcasting to Poles in Belarus, it is in the interest of some European countries not to interfere with the internal affairs in Belarus, as is the case with Germany, who may choose to refrain from action for economic reasons. The authoritarian Lukashenko regime is refusing to recognize the Union of Poles in favour of another, pro-government organization lead by representatives handpicked by his government. The repression of the Polish activists has stalled Belarus’s improving relations with both Poland and the EU in general. Last year Brussels suspended visa restrictions for government officials in Minsk after elections the previous year showed improvements in its attitude to human rights. But Michał Dworczyk, from the Polish Community Association, believes the EU has now had enough of President Lukashenko’s disregard for Europe: “The question is where the European politicians will draw the line and when they will put an end to the maneuvers by President Lukashenko who is using the game of getting closer to Europe as part of his tactics in his relations with Russia. We will see when the politicians say ‘stop’. It seems that the recent developments indicate it will soon be high time to react decisively.” (pg/ab)  Belarus’s Foreign Minister Sergey Martinov (left) AT meeting with Minister Sikorski, Warsaw, February 12 – (photo MSZ) |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 26, 2010 6:16:12 GMT -5
Sikorski and Lukashenko discuss Polish minority conflict.
TheNews.Pl
26.02.2010 08:30
Warsaw and Minsk will set up a team of investigators to look into allegations that the Polish inority is being repressed in Belarus, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said yesterday.
He announced the initiative after a meeting with Belarus’s authoritarian leader Aleksander Lukashenko (left) in Kiev. The two politicians were in the Ukraine capital for the swearing-in ceremony, Wednesday, of newly elected president Viktor Yushchenko.
“The President of Belarus has assured me that […] the group of experts will try to find solutions satisfactory to both parties. I accepted this in good faith, at this stage, and we awaited the results. I think I managed to convince President Lukashenko that this is matter of urgency,” said Minister Sikorski.
One of the members of the investigative team could be Andzelika Borys, the leader of the Union of Poles who, alongside 40 other activists was detained by police earlier this month in Belarus. The Union of Poles - not recognised by the Lukashenko regime - has also had property confiscated and been evicted from offices in Minsk.
Lukashenko, however, seemed surprised by journalists’ enquiries into the arrests of Polish minority leaders. “There were no arrests,”” he claimed. “Nobody went to prison.”
It is understood that Sikorski demanded that Lukashenko fully legalises the Union of Poles in Belarus and its property is returned to it.
Polish minority leader Andzelika Borys will be meeting with speaker of Poland lower house of parliament, Bronislaw Komorowski, Thursday at midday and will attend a joint meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Committee on Liaison with Poles Abroad. (pg)
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