Polish Foreign Ministry Protests against Non-admission of Senate’s Deputy Speaker to Belarus

Foreign Ministry of Poland has filed a note of protest to Belarusian embassy in connection with prohibiting Deputy Speaker of Polish Senate Krzysztof Putra to enter Belarus. Andrei Poczobut, activist of the Union of Poles in Belarus, said that to BelaPAN news agency.

On January 26 Belarusian border guards denied entry to Belarus for Deputy Speaker of the Polish Senate Krzysztof Putra. Krzysztof Putra had a diplomatic passport and was to visit Hrodna in order to have a meeting with members of the Union of Poles of Belarus.

“On January 26 Polish Foreign Ministry called in an advisor of Belarusian Ambassador to Poland Uladzimir Chushau, and a note of protest was delivered to him. It was underlined in the note that K. Putra had a diplomatic passport. He is a representative of the Polish Senate and is responsible for ties with Polish community in Belarus. Besides, relations with Polish expatriates all over the world are a one of the functions of the Polish Senate,” A. Poczobut said.

As said by the UPB activist, Polish Foreign Ministry desire explanations from the Belarusian side in connection with the incident.

“As for us, Poles living in Belarus, we are indignant at absurd actions of the Belarusian regime. The decision to ban the Polish deputy and diplomat from entering Belarus, to my mind, vividly shows that normalization of relations with the West is a typical fairy-tale intended for a western man of the street. This incident has undoubtedly confirmed that in reality Belarusian authorities are not ready for any normalization of relations,” A. Poczobut said.