Polish-Belarussian relations are in deep crisis. This is the consequence of actions by Belarussian authorities targeting the Union of Poles in Belarus, the largest non-governmental organisation representing the interests of the Polish community there. The cause of the crisis lies not in difficulties or problems in bilateral relations but in actions taken by Belarusssian authorites against the country’s own citizens.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland condemns the actions the authorities of the Belarus Republic have taken against the Union of Poles in Belarus and its democratically elected leadership. We are outraged by the unlawful acts of the Belarussian security services which intimidate opponents of Tadeusz Kruczkowski, the Union’s previous president backed by the authorities. For quite a long time now have the authorities in Minsk been imposing various restrictions on the rights of the Polish minority in Belarus. And they have been levelling groundless accusations at the Polish authorities for allegedly attempting to undermine the country’s sovereignty. Poland and the Polish diplomats accredited in Minsk have found themselves on the receiving end of a sustained, large-scale campaign of slander waged by state-owned media.
These developments have elicited our unambiguous assessment. First, in our view, declaring the 6th Congress of the Union of Poles null and void, as well as targeting Andżelika Borys, the democratically elected president of the Union and other members of its new leadership, is incompatible with democratic standards. Second, this amounts to flagrant interference with the work of an independent, non-governmental association whose democratic election has proved that a civil society is now in the making in Belarus. Third, such actions are in conflict with international obligations assumed by Belarus within the framework of the UN (Human Rights Covenants) and the OSCE (The Copenhagen Document of 29 June 1990 and the Moscow Document of 4 October 1994, both dealing with the human dimension of the OSCE).
The latest developments – the detention at Shchutschin of three UPB activists, the summons issued to Andżelika Borys and deputy president Józef Porzecki to report for another round of interrogations, the unlawful exclusion of Ms Borys from the Union of Poles in Belarus – are proof enough of unacceptable pressure being applied to an independent, non-governmental organisation by the Belarussian authorities which thus violate not only their international obligations but also the country’s domestic laws.
Such actions are being taken in glaring contravention of the minorities-related provisions of the Polish-Belarussian treaty and constitute a negation of accepted European standards. In our view, this policy and the lawless acts resorted to by the authorities of Belarus are symptoms of the ongoing violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of all the inhabitants of Belarus.
We are outraged by the continuation by the Belarussian authorities of the shameful policy of unjustified detention and harassment of journalists. We condemn the arrest of Mr Andrzej Poczobut, the editor of “Magazyn Polski”, the journal of the Polish minority in Belarus, and the detention of the Polish media journalists Wacław Radziwinowicz and Robert Kowalewski of Gazeta Wyborcza, as well as Agnieszka Romaszewska of Polish Television.
The position of the Union of Poles in Belarus as that country’s largest independent, non-governmental organisation was the main reason why attacks were launched against it, the aggressive attitude of the Belarussian authorities to their own citizens being indicative of the intensification of repressions and harassment of the democratic opposition in the run-up to the 2006 elections.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland will in an appropriate manner approach the European Commission and all European Union member states and international organisations to take – in the name of a shared value system which places central importance on democratic freedoms, political pluralism, human rights and observance of the rudiments of a notion of the rule of law – firm action in order to make Belarus show respect to fundamental tenets of international law, to multilateral obligations assumed within the framework of the OSCE and to international treaties.
Confronted by the facts on the ground, the Polish authorities have invited the Polish Ambassador to Belarus, Mr Tadeusz Pawlak to come to Warsaw for consultations. Poland will also take steps to ensure a discontinuation of the repressive actions affecting the UPB and to establish close and friendly relations with Belarussian society. In particular, steps will be taken to facilitate all Belarussian citizens’ access to full and uncensored information. The Polish consular services will be issued instructions designed to make travel easier to the citizens of Belarus.

Warsaw, 28 July 2005