Vice speaker of Poland`s Sejm to visit Minsk at invitation of Belarusian officials :: Charter'97 :: News

Jozef Zych, deputy speaker of the Sejm (Poland`s lower parliamentary house), plans to be on a visit to Belarus between September 20 and 23, reported Radio Polonia. Dr. Zych, a member of the Polish People`s Party, has accepted an invitation from Nikolai Cherginets, chairman of the international affairs committee of the Council of the Republic (upper chamber of the Belarusian National Assembly), and Pavel Latushko, the Belarusian ambassador to Poland, Radio Polonia said.

Sejm Speaker Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz has reportedly expressed a negative attitude toward Dr. Zych`s plans, noting that Polish politicians should be guided by the foreign ministry`s recommendations. However, Dr. Zych insists that Polish officials` visits to Belarus do not damage to Poland`s state interests, and that he does not need permission from Foreign Minister Adam Rotfeld to visit Minsk. According to him, he plans to meet with Belarusian MPs to argue for the rights of the Polish minority in Belarus.

However, Polish diplomat Marek Bucko, whom the Belarusian authorities expelled from the country in May, has spoken against the vice speaker`s visit to Belarus, describing it as harmful. "There will emerge an impression that the situation between Poland and Belarus is improving, but the reality is quite the contrary; the Belarusian authorities` tough repressive measures [against activists of the Polish community in the country] are deteriorating the relationship," Radio Polonia quoted Mr. Bucko as saying.