BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

17/08/2007

Lukashenko: 'Poles got slapped in the face'

Interfax reports that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was pleased that Polish politicians were banned from entering Belarus this week.

"They got slapped in the face and that's only right!," President Lukashenko allegedly said.

Last Wednesday Belarus prevented a number of senior Polish politicians, including vice-speaker of Parliament Krzysztof Putra and opposition leader Donald Tusk, from entering the country as of part Polish Army Day celebrations.

Polish officials said that they were kept waiting at the Belarusian border for nearly an hour before being turned away. At the same time Polish PM's aide Michal Dworczyk was stopped while in Belarus and requested to leave the country.

Lukashenko stressed that the ban on entering was legal and said that in the future Polish politicians would be invited if 'their presence was required'.

Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Vanshyna said that Belarus welcomes all Polish officials visits but only with constructive intensions. .

Officially there are 400,000 Poles living in Belarus.

In 2005 the Lukashenko regime accused the community of trying to bring down his regime as they supported the opposition movement in Belarus. The same year, the regime replaced a democratically elected leader of the Union of Poles in Belarus and closed down a Polish language newspaper. (photo: Sergey Glazev)

Source:

http://www.thenews.pl/archives/1026-Lukashenko-Poles-got-slapped-in-the-face.html

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