Poland tells EU of Belarusian role in child transports from Ukraine

On Tuesday, Poland's Permanent Representative to the EU told the ambassadors of the other 26 EU countries about Belarus's involvement in the illegal deportations of Ukrainian children and called for the continuation of sanctions against Belarus, PAP learned from sources in Brussels.

At the meeting, Andrzej Sados presented information contained in a letter he received from Pawel Latuszka, a representative of the Belarusian interim government created by opposition activists.

The letter shows that 2,000 children, mostly from the occupied territories of Ukraine, were deported to holiday camps and sanatoriums in Belarus. One of these institutions is the 'Dubrava' camp, which belongs to the state-owned potash mining company Belaruskalij. The illegal export of Ukrainian children to the territory of Belarus is to be dealt by the charity foundation of the Belarusian Aleksei Talaj and the Donetsk social organisation 'Dolfinins', headed by Olha Volkova.

Latushka points out that in this way Belaruskalij facilitates complicity in war crimes, because this is how children from the territories of Ukraine occupied by Russian troops are transported to Belarus.

Meanwhile, attempts are being made in Brussels to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash, which is used in the production of fertilisers. Supporters of the lifting of sanctions refer to the argument of world food security.

Many EU countries, including Poland, indicate, however, that this is a pretext, because Belarusian potash has been replaced with imports from countries such as Canada, and world agricultural products and fertiliser prices are falling.

Ambassador Sados also emphasised that Poland would not agree to any softening of EU sanctions against Belarus.