BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

23.07.2005

Belarusian media slam Poland

The pro-government Belarusian media blame Poland and the Union of Poles in Belarus for the on-going diplomatic dispute between Warsaw and Minsk. The biggest government daily Sovietskaya Bialorusia prints a letter from a Pole who claims that the Union should serve the Belarusian state and the nation.

Head of the state committee for religious minorities Stanislav Vuko argues in another daily that the Belarusian authorities do not carry the blame for the situation in the Union of Poles. He attributes them to internal conflicts in the union.

The problems started when the union replaced its old leadership loyal to the government with new, independent-minded people.

The opposition dailies write that the authorities are afraid of a revolution. The crisis on the Warsaw-Minsk line is also analyzed in the context of the worsening of Polish-Russian relation

Poland's foreign minister Adam Rotfeld says firmly that the problems are in Belarus and criticizes the authoritarian rule of president Alexander Lukashenko.

Two Polish diplomats have been expelled from Belarus recently. Minister Rotfeld announced that Poland will respond with a similar move.

Source:

http://www.radio.com.pl/polonia/article.asp?tId=25408&j=2