Polish group face crackdown in Belarus

Up to 50 Poles were detained by police in Belarus yesterday in the on going spat between the Union of Poles and President Alexander Lukashenko.

Police set up roadblocks as 100 Polish activists made their way to a meeting in Ivyanets, which is in the Hrodna province of Western Belarus. The Charter 97 NGO reports that 33 were arrested, though Polish media puts the figure closer to 50.

Charter 97 later reported that all Union activists were later released after the Polish consul had intervened.

Leader of the Union of Poles in Belarus Andżelika Borys told the PAP news agency: “About 30 cars and mini-buses with 100 people on board were stopped every 50 km. People were stopped on various pretexts: their cars and documents were checked, some had breathalyser tests, others were taken for medical examinations,”

The Polish activists were on their way to give support to Tereza Sobal, who was deposed as local leader of the union by the government in Minsk. A ballot for a new leader who would be acceptable to President Lukashenko’s government – which sees the Union of Poles as a subversive organization trying to destabilise the regime - was scheduled to take place.

The Union of Poles in Belarus claims to have around 20,000 members and represents a Polish minority amounting to around 400,000. From 2005 there have been two unions, one approved by President Aleksander Lukashenko – which most of the Polish minority regard as a stooge organization – and the other organization lead by Borys which is approved by governments in Warsaw.

Polish authorities maintain that one of the key conditions to normalization in Polish-Belarusian relations is a full recognition by the Belarusian government of the Union of Poles headed by Andzelika Borys.