Polish President met with leaders of Union of Poles in Belarus

• 22.02.2010, 18:10

Lech Kaczynski had a meeting in his Warsaw residence with Andzelika Borys, Andrzej Poczobut, Mieczyslaw Jaskiewicz, and Igor Bancer, who are persecuted in Belarus.

As charter97.org learnt from one of the leaders of the Union of Poles Andrzej Poczobut, the President of Poland expressed his solidarity with the persecuted ethnic Polish minority in Belarus, but noted the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka violates the rights of all citizens in Belarus.

“The Polish president assured us he would address the EU leadership asking them to support the Union of Poles. Lech Kaczynski paid attention that is was the problem not only of the Poles, but of all citizens of Belarus, the whole Belarusian civil society. We thanked the Polish president for the actions taken by him and other political forces to support the Union of Poles in Belarus,” Andrzej Poczobut said.

The Union head Andzelika Borys told in an interview to charter97.org the Polish president would call the EU leadership to give due attention to the situation in Belarus. Andzelika Borys is to hold a number of important meetings in the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union in Brussels tomorrow.

“I’d like to tell them about the situation in Belarus. We have been suffering from pressure for five years. The repressions have tightened now. It is the problem not only for the Poles, but a strike on the Belarusian civil society. All opposition forces in Belarus express their solidarity with us. We stand for dialogue with Belarus, but if the Belarusian authorities want to have relations with Europe, they have to observe human rights.

If Europe wants to be open for Belarus, let it be open not for the government, but for people of the country – Schengen visa procedures should be facilitated, visa fees should be reduced, civil society struggling for freedom and democracy in Belarus should be supported,” Andzelika Borys said.