English

Ambassador denies allegation of violations of Belarusian minority’s rights in Poland

Polish Ambassador Leszek Szerepka called an emergency news conference in Minsk on Monday to deny a TV report accusing Warsaw of violating the rights of ethnic Belarusians living in Poland.

A show broadcast by Channel One (Belarusian Television) on September 18 featured a segment focusing on the Belarusian minority in Poland and the planned relocation of the Belarusian Cultural Center from Bialystok to Warsaw.

"We usually do not attempt to comment on Belarusian Television's reports, but what was aired yesterday was beyond the boundaries of decency as the subject of an ethnic minority was raised. And this is a very sensitive subject that one must deal with in a very delicate manner," Mr. Szerepka said.

He stressed that Belarus and Poland had held a series of rounds of consultations on the status and future fate of the Polish Institute in Minsk and the Belarusian Cultural Center in Poland. A draft agreement governing the matter has already been drawn up and may be signed before the end of the year, according to the ambassador.

"As for support of the ethnic minority, when I compare the terms of assistance to the Polish minority here and the Belarusian minority in Poland, I can say that we're doing much more," Mr. Szerepka said.

The embassy will not take steps to make the television channel deny its report, he noted. "We already have negative experience in such affairs, that's why we decided to hold this news conference to communicate our stance instead of trying to make the channel deny the report," he explained. //BelaPAN