The European Union has expressed deep concern about a raid of Belarus special forces on the headquarters of the Association of Poles. A spokesman for the executive European Commission said: ‘This new episode takes place in the context of a growing repression of political parties and non-governmental organizations and also independent media in Belarus’ .EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana also expressed his concern about the developments in Belarus in a telephone call to the ambassador of Belarus in Brussels.
Polish foreign minister Adam Rotfeld asked the European Union for help but according to unofficial sources, unless tensions between Warsaw and Minsk escalate further, the EU would take no action for the time being because of the holiday season and because some Western states such as France are against giving the issue a priority.
One of the more dramatic political dramas playing out in Europe this summer is the profound increase in tension between new NATO and EU member Poland and its eastern neighbor, the pariah state of Belarus.
Russia could do more to press Belarus -- engaged in a worsening row with its western neighbour Poland -- to respect human rights and democracy, a leading Polish diplomat said on Friday. Warsaw has called for European Union help in protecting Poland’s ethnic minority in Belarus after the ex-Soviet country’s special forces raided the offices of a Polish association on Thursday.
Leader of Belarusian social-democratic party (Narodnaya Hramada), coordinator of European coalition Mikola Statkevich left for Baranavichi today. He will serve sentence for organizing protest actions there.
Speaker of Polish Parliament (Soim), ex-Minister of foreign affairs Vlodzimezh Chimoshevich said in interview to Polish radio that Poland has been the last defender of Belarus in international policy.
The arrival of the newly appointed Russian Ambassador to Belarus, Dmitry Ayatskov, has been postponed because of the need to discuss certain issues in Russian-Belarussian relations, the Russian Foreign Ministry`s information and press department said in a commentary on Friday.
Reporters Without Borders today urged the Belarusian authorities to stop hounding and arresting journalists from the country`s Polish minority as part of the government`s present conflict with neighbouring Poland.
The well-known US expert Bruce Jackson is quite a frequent guest in Kyiv. For example, when Kyiv agreed to send troops to Iraq, Mr. Jackson said that Ukraine stood a good chance to develop relations with Western democracies.
Senate of Poland approved with majority of voices special resolution about support to Polish minority in Belarus. The document expresses protest to anti-Polish policy of Belarusian authorities and discrimination of Polish minority in this country.
The Polish government recalled its ambassador to Belarus and urged the European Union Thursday to impose sanctions on the leadership of the country after members of the riot police with guns and dogs stormed a building used by ethnic Poles near the border with Poland.
Poland recalled its ambassador from Belarus after police in the ex-Soviet republic seized the offices of a Polish community association amid an escalating row over what Belarus` authoritarian government says is foreign meddling in its affairs.
Today’s decision of the Polish authorities to recall their ambassador from Minsk shows that Poland is pursuing a policy aimed at exacerbating and suspending its relations with Belarus, official of the foreign ministry’s press service Maria Vanshina told BelTA.
Brussels gave Minsk another tongue-lashing following police raids on a Polish NGO on Wednesday (27 July), but there is no sign of concrete EU action against Belarus in the short term. The new episode is "deeply worrying" and takes place in "the context of growing repression of political parties, opposition groups and independent media", European Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said on Thursday.
The actions performed by the Polish youth near the embassy of Belarus in Warsaw, which were called by the Polish mass media spontaneous, had been planned in advance, spokesman for the Belarusian diplomatic mission Vsevolod Glushkov told a correspondent of BelTA.
A new scandal emerging in Belarusian–Polish relations could ultimately set Minsk at odds with its European neighbors by intensifying the international isolation of Aleksandr Lukashenko`s regime. On Wednesday night, the Belarusian OMON [special forces] raided the building of the Union of Belarusian Poles in Grodno and arrested its leaders, whose activities were considered illegal in Minsk. Lukashenko has been trying to contrast the union with Moscow with his strained relations with the West, calling Belarus a Russian outpost. However, the arrival in Minsk of the new Russian ambassador, Dmitry Ayatskov, was also accompanied by a scandal, reminding everyone that the Belarusian president is failing to find understanding not only in the West, but also in the East.
Fighting Words 10:59, 29/07/2005, By Sergey Strokan, Kommersant, Russia
Aleksandr Lukashenko is obviously not quite himself. How else can you explain all those spasmodic gestures in recent days, with a comic show of force by the Belarusian special forces at the Polish Union building and “batka`s” [i.e., Lukashenko`s] many shrill pronouncements against his own people and foreigners alike, from American President George Bush to Russian Ambassador Dmitry Ayatskov.
A serious crisis has developed in relations between Poland and Belarus, Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rotfeld said on July 28. Warsaw has recalled its ambassador from Minsk. Several hours previously, Minsk officials abrogated the plenipotentiary powers of Polish diplomats in Belarus in response to the eviction of Belarussian diplomats from Poland, Belarussian Foreign Ministry officials said.
Leader of Belarusian social-democratic party (Narodnaya Hramada), coordinator of European coalition Mikola Statkevich will serve sentence in Baranavichi (Brest region). He was given temporary ID instead of passport and told to come to place of cerving sentence not later than evening of July 29.
According to Polish radio Polish Wrotslaw breaks partner relations with Belarusian Hrodna. Authorities of Wrotslaw decided to break official partnership with Hrodna authorities because of repressions against activists of Union of Poles of Belarus.
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