Polish Senate Speaker starts visit to Belarus
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
05.12.2016 07:29
Polish Senate Speaker Stanisław Karczewski has begun a three-day visit to Belarus.
Senate Speaker Stanisław Karczewski. Photo: PAP/Marcin Obara
He will meet Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov.
Karczewski said that his visit is a return to efforts to try to establish good relations with Belarus.
He said that he would talk to the Belarusian authorities about legalizing the Union of Poles in Belarus.
“There is willingness by the Belarusian authorities to address this issue,” said Karczewski.
Other topics of discussion will include cooperation between parliaments and within the region, strengthening local border traffic and educational team-ups.
Currently, the Union of Poles in Belarus is not recognized by the authorities in Minsk. In 2005, a candidate they did not approve of – Andżelika Borys – was elected chair; the Belarusian authorities then forced the Union to repeat the vote, which in turn was not recognized by the Polish authorities.
This caused a split in the union and Borys supporters created an organization not recognized by the Belarusian authorities. (mol/pk)
Source: PAP