BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/03/2007

Poland supports opposition demonstration in Minsk

A group of Polish politicians arrived to the Belarusian capital Minsk in a gesture of support for today's Freedom Day demonstration of the Belarusian opposition. The authorities declared the event illegal. Barbara Kudrycka, a eurodeputy from Poland's opposition Civic Party said she wanted to offer moral support and celebrate the Freedom Day together with Belarus's opposition leaders.

The presence in Minsk of Malgorzata Gosiewska from Poland's senior ruling party, Law and Justice, provoked a critical comment from the Belarusian embassy in Warsaw, which called it a provocative media move. Gosiewska said Polish politicians wanted to demonstrate their support for Belarusian opposition's struggle for democracy, free mass media, the right to organize democratic organizations. "We hope that thanks to our presence today's celebrations will be peaceful", the Polish MP said.

The several thousand crowd of demonstrators was cordoned off by the police and divided into smaller groups.

Source:

http://www.poland.pl/news/article,Poland_supports_opposition_demonstration_in_Minsk,id,266248.htm