BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

Belarus accuses Polish diplomats of spying

'Poland will not be provoked by hostile actions of the Belarusian authoritarian regime' Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski has said. He was referring to a programme broadcast by Belarusian television, which accused the Polish embassy in Minsk with espionage.

The aggravation of Polish-Belarusian relations dates back to earlier this year when the Union of Poles in Belarus replaced its old leadership loyal to president Alexander Lukashenko with new, independent minded people. This provoked persecutions of the Poles and caused a clash with the Polish embassy officials trying to protect the 400,000 strong Polish minority in Belarus. The Belarusian tv feature accusing Polish officials of espionage comes on the heels of a whole series of hostile actions, including the expulsion of 2 Polish diplomats.

President Aleksander Kwasniewski says that it is a situation in which Poland should be firm without losing patience.

'Poland will not give up protection of its minority and its organizations, but we must not let ourselves be embroiled in adventurist campaigns which would create a bad impression that Poland is not a carrier of peace and stabilization.'

Foreign minister Adam Rotfeld has announced that Poland will expel another Belarus diplomat for a similar move taken by Minsk and rejected accusations that Poland is to blame for the worsening of relations. The problems are in Belarus, he said.

'We are not going to put up with the steps taken towards our country but we will make sure that our actions do not harm the Belarusian people. '

Jakub Boratynski of the Batory Foundation in Warsaw explains why the Belarusian regime has been determined to harm relations with Poland. He says that, ironically, it is a sign of lack of confidence of president Lukashenko. Jakub Boratynski believes that Poland is handling the situation properly though it is in a very difficult situation.

Political analysts agree that finding an adequate response in this situation is really difficult, especially as Belarus is clearly happy with the confrontation with Poland and is not interested in an improvement of bilateral relations.

Source:

http://www.radio.com.pl/polonia/article.asp?tId=25457&j=2

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