Poland gains int'l support against repression of Poles in Belarus

Poland has gained international support in its campaign against the repressions currently being inflicted on the Polish minority in Belarus.

Poland has responded sharply to the recent arrest, by Belarusian police, of Andzelika Borys and Andrzej Poczobut, respectively head and board member of the Union of Poles in Belarus (ZPB), the largest Polish organisation in Belarus.

Borys has been sentenced to a 15-day prison term.

Police have also arrested other members of the ZPB, which has remained in operation in defiance of a ban by Belarusian authorities.

Poland's protest against the arrests has won the backing of the Council of Europe, the UN and other international organisations.

On Friday, Krzysztof Szczerski, the chief aide to Polish President Andrzej Duda, said Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric, who met with Duda earlier in the day, assured him that the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers would debate the issue next week.

Szczerski said Duda also discussed the situation of the Polish minority in Belarus with leaders from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the United Nations.

Poland has also brought up the matter up on the EU and NATO platforms.