Bronislaw Komorowski: “Dialogue with Minsk impossible without international pressure”

Marshal of the Sejm Bronislaw Komorowski calls on Poland and the European Union to support the Belarusian opposition and independent media.

Marshal of the Sejm of Poland Bronislaw Komorowski told in an interview to Radio Racyja he had a hope that the Poland–Belarus commission, which formation was announced by Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski and Alyaksandr Lukashenka in Kyiv, can bring the countries together that can lead to settling the problem with the Polish minority in Belarus.

Bronislaw Komorowski also said the international community should further press on the Belarusian government.

“It’s crucial for us to continue supporting pressure of Polish and EU public opinion on the Belarusian authorities, because the Belarusian party talks only due to that pressure,” the Marshal of the Sejm said. “I think we shouldn’t choose between commission and pressure. We should have both. The Polish and international community should demonstrate their interest in the situation in Belarus.”

Bronislaw Komorowski noted supporting the Belarusian democratic forces and independent media among instruments of influencing official Minsk.

“I know how international support is important. This saved me from criminal persecution in the 1990ies,” the speaker of the Polish parliament said.

We remind that repressions against the Union of Poles have tightened in Belarus. On February 17, the Sejm of Poland adopted a resolution condemning actions of Minsk against the Polish minority in Belarus. The resolution recommends considering a possibility of imposing sanctions on Belarusian officials.