Polish PM, Belarusian opposition leader discuss aid for Belarus

Further aid for the Belarusian opposition, the Belarusian people's democratic aspirations and the current situation in the country dominated talks between PM Mateusz Morawiecki and Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in Warsaw on Tuesday.

Morawiecki said after the meeting that the Belarusian opposition did not intend to give up its fight, and stated that Poland would lend it as much support as possible.

In Warsaw, Tikhanovskaya also met with Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, with whom she spoke about support for the Belarusians' struggle for freedom. Reporting on the talks on Twitter, Trzaskowski said they also concerned Warsaw's aid for Belarusian oppositionists forced to leave the country.

Tikhanovskaya also appealed for the Belarusian police to cross over to the protesters' side by Sunday, adding that whoever did so would avoid lustration.

During a meeting in Warsaw's Belarusian House, Tikhanovskaya thanked the Polish government for its aid programme for Belarusians and support for civic society in her country. She also said that Belarusian exiles in Poland did not want to be a financial burden on Poles, and said that she had given Morawiecki a letter in which she asks for Poland to grant them employment rights.

She also met with the Polish president's head of staff Krzysztof Szczerski.

Mass protests are continuing in Belarus since a rigged August 9 presidential election gave Lukashenko a sixth presidential term with over 80 percent of the vote, leaving Tikhanovskaya, his main contender in the campaign, with about 10 percent. Countrywide protests in demand of a repeated vote are being met by extreme police brutality, over 10,000 protesters have been arrested.

Last week, Tikhanovskaya said she would call for a nationwide strike in Belarus if Lukashenko fails to announce his resignation by October 25. She also demanded that Lukashenko halt all violence against protesters and free all political prisoners in Belarus.