Belarus protests to Poland over planned anti-Lukashenko march in Warsaw

Belarus has formally protested to Poland over plans for a demonstration in Warsaw this weekend organized by exiled opponents of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Minsk says it is a “destructive event” that will “directly harm Belarusian-Polish relations” and warns that it may “take countermeasures”.

On Saturday, opponents of the Lukashenko regime will gather in the Polish capital for a “Freedom March” to mark the fifth anniversary of the Belarusian presidential election at which Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994, was declared to have won a sixth term.

Widespread evidence of vote-rigging prompted mass protests against his government. Amid a brutal crackdown by the authorities, many opposition leaders and regular Belarusians fled the country, often settling in neighboring Poland .

On both Saturday and Sunday, a conference titled “New Belarus” will be held at the University of Warsaw featuring leading exiled opposition figures, including 2020 presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya .

On Tuesday, the Belarusian foreign ministry issued a statement condemning the planned events in Warsaw, which it said have “the aim of causing harm to the Republic of Belarus”.

“The organizers and active participants are representatives of the Belarusian diaspora, supported by official Warsaw [sic] and known for their destructive and provocative activities,” continued the statement. “Such hostile actions…directly harm Belarusian-Polish relations.”

The ministry noted that it had summoned Poland's chargé d'affaires, Krzysztof Ożanna, and handed him a protest note. It added that it “will continue to closely monitor the situation, reserving the right to take necessary countermeasures in response to any provocative actions.”

Separately on Tuesday, the Investigative Committee of Belarus, a state body, announced that it had identified 207 Belarusians – based in Poland, the US, Lithuania, Canada and the UK – who have participated in street protests abroad and would proceed with searches and seizure of their property in Belarus.

It accused them of involvement in “criminal activities” organized by “extremist groups and terrorist organizations” and designed to “discredit the Republic of Belarus in the international arena” and bring about “violent change of the constitutional order”.

Poland's government has not yet commented on the latest developments. However, it has regularly criticized Minsk over its persecution of political opponents , its engineering of a migration crisis on the Polish border , and its close relations with Russia .

Main image credit: Jakub Wlodek / Agencja Wyborcza.pl