European Forum

Belarusian regime under fire following arrests of Polish activists

Belarusian riot police on Monday (15 February) arrested the leader of the Union of Poles in Belarus, Angelika Borys, along with around 40 other activists on their way to a rally in Valozhyn, in the west of the country. The sweep follows a raid on the union's headquarters in Grodno last week.

Yesterday (16 February), a peaceful action of solidarity with arrested leaders of the Union of Poles and political prisoners was to be held in Minsk, but was harshly dispersed by riot police. About a hundred of militiamen arrested 24 oppositionists, including journalists and Belarusian political prisoners Mikalai Autukhovich and Artsyom Dubski.

EU condemns situation
The EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has condemned the crackdown on the ethnic Polish activists. "I condemn [...] what appear to be attempts by the authorities to impose a new leadership on the Polish community," Ms Ashton said. She suggested that the crackdown could affect the participation of Minsk in the Eastern Partnership, a recently-launched EU initiative to boost economic and political ties with six post-Soviet states. "The EU has demonstrated considerable openness to engagement with Belarus, seen also in Belarus' inclusion in the Eastern Partnership [...]". "These developments undermine our efforts to strengthen relations between the European Union and Belarus."

Her comments were echoed by the president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, which is himself a Pole. After the crackdown Buzek and the Speaker of the Polish lower House of Parliament (Sejm Marshal), Bronislaw Komorowski, made a joint statement. “The Belarusian authorities are conducting repressions not only against the Union of Poles but against other NGOs.. this is an attack on the entire democratic opposition. It’s time for the EU to say: further relations with Belarus depend on how basic human rights will be observed in the country”, Buzek told Komorowski.

Situation might lead to sanctions
“We’d like Belarus to have foreign investments,” Buzek said in a press conference on Monday. “But the situation […] can lead to sanctions, including economic ones.” Buzek said the EP was going to send four MEPs with an official mission to Belarus next week. Buzek also met with Aleksandr Milinkevich, a major opposition figure in Belarus and a laureate of the parliament's 2006 Sakharov Prize, and hinted that the police action could threaten financial support for Belarus, when applying for a loan from the IMF, the EBRD and the European Commission. 

Poland might spoil things
The Polish government has also threatened to use its weight in the EU and IMF to harm Belarusian interests unless it backs off. "Its extremely important that the EU sees the repression of ethnic minorities, including the Polish minority and other groups and NGOs, as unacceptable," Polish leader Donald Tusk said yesterday.

The Union of Poles represents a Polish minority in Belarus amounting to around 400,000, which is about 5% of the Belarusian population. From 2005, there have been two unions, one approved by President Aleksander Lukashenko – which most of the Polish minority regard as a stooge organization – and the other organization lead by Borys which is approved by governments in Warsaw. Polish authorities maintain that one of the key conditions to normalization in Polish-Belarusian relations is a full recognition by the Belarusian government of the Union of Poles headed by Borys.

The anti-Polish initiative comes one year ahead of Presidential elections in Minsk, with Belarusian analysts saying the country's autocratic leader is looking to create enemies to help his campaign.

Sources: Charter97; EU Observer; Volkskrant (Dutch); Euranet