EU slams Belarusian treatment of Polish minority
The European Parliament condemned the government in Minsk today
Flickr.com/European Parliament
The European Parliament today took a strong stance against Belarus’ treatment of its Polish minority. MEPs today condemned recent police action and legal measures against Belarus’ Union of Poles and urged Minsk to release political activists.
In February, Belarusian police arrested members of the independent Union of Poles in Belarus, including its leader Angelika Borys. The Union of Poles represent the country's Polish minority. President Lukashenko has continually accused the organization of being part of a “fifth column,” which hostile countries have been using to try and develop “Orange Revolution” style popular protests to bring down his regime.
Four years ago Lukashenko's government set up a rival pr-government Union of Poles, which the government in Warsaw has refused to recognize.
Jacek Protoszewicz, one of the EU observers sent to Belarus to look into the allegations of harassment, told Euranet: “Conditions in Belarus for civic activity, democratic opposition and independent media have worsened in the last year. This is mainly due to the elections to be held this year.”
Local council elections are scheduled for April and Lukashenko will be seeking re-election for a third term in next year's presidential election.
Lukashenko has been trying to bring Belarus closer to the EU in an effort to wean the country off its economic reliance on Russia. Brussels is using this to encourage Minsk to improve its human rights record.
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