Regular Correspondent of Public Polish TV (TVP) Agnieszka Romaszewska Is Prohibited Entrance to Belarus

In the evening of 10 December Belarusian border guards didn’t let into Belarus the camera crew of the Polish Public TV without explaining the reasons. The journalist Agnieszka Romaszewska was going to Minsk together with driver and cameraman in order to establish there the regular bureau of the TV. She had all the necessary documents, including visa and the accreditation, issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus. Despite it, the border-guards of Kuznitsa-Bruzhi customs office kept the Poles’ passports for 1,5 hours and then stated Agnieszka Romaszewska couldn’t enter Belarus. Two other members of the camera crew decided not to go to Belarus without her.

In her interview to RFE/RL Ms. Romaszewska said at first a border guard put the permissive seal in her passport, but then annulled it and advised her to apply to the Belarusian Consulate in Poland for explanations. It was the first time she was prohibited entrance. Earlier, when she passed materials concerning the activity of the Union of Poles in Belarus, the Belarusian secret services tried to confiscate the video-tape and unknown persons broached the wheels of the car of the camera crew. Agnieszka Romaszewska said she would demand explanations and would try to get to Belarus.