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Embassy spokesman downplays critical opinion of Belarus` Constitutional Court on Pole`s Card

The critical opinion of the Constitutional Court of Belarus on the Pole’s Card Law is unlikely to have any serious effects, Pawel Marczuk, spokesman for the Polish embassy in Minsk, told BelaPAN on Friday.

The opinion will hardly affect individuals applying for the Pole’s Card, the spokesman said.

In a statement issued on April 7, the Constitutional Court claimed that some of the Polish law`s provisions run counter to international treaties.

The court said that the law conflicts with the universally established principles of sovereign equality of states and non-interference in internal affairs of other countries proclaimed by the UN Charter, as well as with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Belarusian-Polish Convention on Consular Relations and the interstate agreement between Belarus and Poland on mutual travel of citizens concluded on December 20, 2007 by the exchange of diplomatic notes.

The Pole`s Card (Karta Polaka), also translated as the Polish Charter or Polish Card, is a document confirming the holder’s belonging to the Polish nation. It was introduced by a law that was adopted by the Polish parliament in September 2007 and came into force on March 29, 2008.

“The yesterday decision of the Constitutional Court of Belarus has come as a surprise to us,” Mr. Marczuk said. “It is surprising, because it interferes with the rights of another sovereign state. Moreover, it comes now that prisoners are held behind bars on political grounds and are subject to torture in Belarus, an activist of the [unofficial] Union of Poles in Belarus and Gazeta Wyborcza correspondent, Andrzej Poczobut, is in jail and the Belarusian authorities refuse to grant registration to the organization of the Polish minority.”

At the same time, Mr. Marczuk said that Warsaw feared that the Belarusian authorities could mount pressure on Polish minority activists in Belarus.

On February 23, the House of Representatives asked the Constitutional Court to issue its opinion on the Pole’s Card. “It runs counter to the principles of good neighborliness,” House of Representatives Chairman Uladzimir Andreychanka said, noting that the issue was especially relevant now amid an “anti-Belarusian campaign” in neighboring Poland.

Ihar Karpenka, chairman of the standing committee on international affairs, said that the House had received a number of complaints from voters who inquired about the “legality” of the Pole’s Card. Poland may use data stated in applications for the Card “for its ends,” he said.

As many as 14,500 Belarusians have obtained the Card, Mr. Karpenka noted.

According to Polish official statisticians, 900,000 people of Polish descent live in Belarus.

“The Constitutional Court’s conclusion will not have any legal consequences, as its jurisdiction only covers the international treaties and agreements to which Belarus is a party,” Syarhey Balykin, a prominent legal and economic commentator, told BelaPAN. “The Belarusian authorities naturally cannot abolish a law of another country,” he said.

The Pole’s Card, which is issued to former Polish citizens and those who have relatives of Polish descent, even in the fourth generation, gives extensive privileges to the holder such as a free multi-entry visa and the rights to work, set up a company and study in Poland similar to those exercised by Polish citizens.

The Card also entitles the holder to a 37-percent discount on rail travel in Poland.

It is given for a period of 10 years and extended for further 10 years upon application.

The law unexpectedly came under fire from the Belarusian state media and foreign ministry, with the latter alleging that its enforcement may "seriously destabilize interethnic relations in our country, spark tensions in Belarusian society, disrupt its stability and give rise to mistrust between Belarusian nationals of different descent.”