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All Polish Houses in Belarus should be under control of Union of Poles led by Andzelika Borys

Warsaw is demanding that all the 16 Polish Houses in Belarus should be under the control of the Union of Poles in Belarus (UPB) led by Andzelika Borys, Jan Borkowski, secretary of state at the Polish foreign ministry, told the Sejm on Tuesday.

Only two of the 16 buildings, in Baranavichy and Barysaw, are now controlled by the so-called unofficial UPB, which is not recognized by the Belarusian authorities. The other 14 are under the control of the “official” UPB, which Minsk calls the only legitimate Union of Poles in the country.

A list has been opened to include persons banned from entry into Poland for their involvement in infringements on the rights of the Polish minority in Belarus, Mr. Borkowski said, according to Poland’s news agency PAP.

He expressed hope that there would be no reasons to expand the list.

Warsaw’s further steps will depend on the reaction of Minsk in the next few days, Mr. Borkowski said.

“The Belarusian authorities is facing a choice between meeting the democratic standards applied by the Council of Europe and the European Union or rejecting them, which would make us take more decisive steps, including economic sanctions,” he said.

Certain West European countries put economic relations and pragmatism over principles, but “we believe that principles should be observed,” he noted.

Meanwhile, the Belarusian ambassador to Poland, Viktar Haysyonak, told Radio Racyja that the Polish House in Ivyanets “has been and will remain property of the Poles living in Belarus, including the Poles living in Ivyanets, and is not to be transferred under the control of the state or any private figures.”

The ambassador accused “the group of Borys” of fuelling public interest in it to ensure that Poland continues providing financial and other support to it. “We believe this is the main motive of the group of Borys, which is going all out to obtain control over the property of the Union of Poles,” Mr. Haysyonak said.