Concert To Mark 100th Anniversary Of Restoration Of Poland’s Independence Scuttled In Minsk

Polish Ambassador to Belarus attended the event.

A festive concert on the occasion of the centenary of the restoration of Poland’s independence was scuttled. The concert was organized by the local branch of the Union of Poles of Belarus (UPB) unrecognized by the authorities. The hall administrator interrupted the concert half an hour after the beginning and forced it to be finished, znadniemna.pl writes.

Previously, three different owners refused to rent a hall for holding the concert. As the head of the Minsk branch of the Union of Poles Elena Marchukevich explained, two halls refused to hold a concert even on weekend. About 200 members of the UPB gathered in front of the third premise, but there they faced a refusal as well.

At the last moment, the participants moved to fourth place, but after half an hour the administrator demanded to finish the event.

In a brief speech, the head of the unregistered UPB, Andzelika Borys, noted that the duty of Poles in Belarus is to take care of Polish memorials, as "independence is measured by crosses - on the graves of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers."

Polish Ambassador to Belarus Artur Michalski thanked those present at the ceremony. He stressed that freedom and independence are universal values.

About half an hour after the beginning of the concert, after the Polish national anthem and several patriotic songs were sung, the worker turned off the lights and demanded to finish the event.

Andzelika Borys urged those gathered to disperse peacefully and not to react to provocations.

It should be noted that so many people gathered that they did not fit in the hall.

The Union of Poles in Belarus supported the Belarusian movement for national and civil rights. In response, in 2005, the Belarusian authorities began to put pressure on the UPB. They created a controlled alternative Union of Poles, but most of the activists remained committed to the organization led by Andzelika Borys.