{"id":133418,"date":"2025-04-08T13:03:18","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T10:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/133418\/"},"modified":"2025-04-08T13:03:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T10:03:20","slug":"poland-stresses-democracy-in-belarus-as-key-to-regional-security-amid-growing-tensions","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/133418\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland stresses democracy in Belarus as key to regional security amid growing tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tensions between Minsk and Warsaw continue to escalate as Belarus aligns with Russia\u2019s anti-Polish policy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\n Bialystok, Poland\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Pozirk)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sejm: democracy vital for Belarus’ independence<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Last week, the Polish Sejm voted 431 to 2 to approve a resolution denouncing Belarus’ January presidential election for failing to meet democratic standards and not reflecting the will of the Belarusian people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resolution emphasized that a free and sovereign Belarus is a key pillar of stability and security in the region. Polish MPs view democracy in Belarus as a precondition for security in Central and Eastern Europe, rather than an internal matter for the country. Moreover, they consider the Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka regime to be a destabilizing force in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also reiterated in February that lasting peace in the region could only be achieved with Belarus’ integration into the European community. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, he suggested that Europe\u2019s \u201csecurity line\u201d should be drawn along the eastern borders of Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states and Finland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Poland and Ukraine see democracy in Belarus as essential for long-term peace. It took three years of devastating war in Ukraine and the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus for this realization to take hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, the Sejm expressed its support for Belarusian pro-democracy forces in exile. Notably, the Sejm held Russia responsible for the crisis of democracy and human rights in Belarus, citing its encroachment on Belarusian sovereignty through forced integration. The statement underlined the connection between democracy and the country\u2019s sovereignty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valfovi\u010d concerned about Suwa\u0142ki Gap buildup<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On April 3, Security Council chief Alaksandar Valfovi\u010d accused neighboring European Union countries of escalating tensions by building up military forces near Belarus and intensifying their \u201caggressive rhetoric.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe recently received information that Poland is deploying new operational units, reconnaissance battalions and equipment in the Suwa\u0142ki Gap area. They are trying to defend themselves from an imaginary threat from the east. But this is laughable today because the Belarusian Armed Forces do not prioritize increasing military budgets or the number of exercises,\u201d Valfovi\u010d said, as reported by the defense ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the Belarusian army would continue to integrate new types of weapons and military equipment, with a focus on engineering and fortifying defenses across the territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Suwa\u0142ki Gap is a narrow strip of land between Poland and Lithuania, often referred to as a \u201cweak link\u201d by Western experts. Its occupation by Belarusian and Russian forces could sever the Baltics from the rest of the EU and link Belarus\u2019 Hrodna region with Kaliningrad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2024, while inspecting troops near the border with Lithuania, Alexander \u0141uka\u0161enka asked the commander of the Northwestern Operational Command how far they were from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cForty-two kilometers,\u201d replied Maj. Gen. Alaksandar Navumienka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s practically nothing,\u201d said \u0141uka\u0161enka, suggesting that the Suwa\u0142ki Gap was vulnerable. \u201cIt\u2019s wrong for them [Western neighbors] to behave like that. Now you would have to confront the Baltic republics,\u201d he told the general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s statement, it is no surprise that Poland and its neighbors are strengthening their defenses in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian envoy warns of Belarus\u2019 “Polonization”<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Belarus faces \u201ca new attempt at creeping Polonization\u201d by political emigrants, warned Boris Gryzlov, the Russian ambassador to Belarus, in an article published by Russia\u2019s Sputnik Belarus<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He expressed deep concern over Belarusian European aspirations, particularly criticizing Poland. Gryzlov accused Poland of assimilating Western Belarusian residents during the interwar period and of hosting and funding Belarusian media and cultural initiatives that position Belarus as part of Western civilization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The claim that Poland is trying to \u201cwoo\u201d Belarusians away from Russia is not new. Russian historians have promoted this theory since the 19th century. According to this theory, Belarusians are seen as a western subgroup of the Russian people. The partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth are depicted as historical justice, \u201cliberating\u201d oppressed Orthodox faithful and reuniting lands that supposedly belonged to Russia. Moscow is presented as the savior of Belarusians from Polish assimilation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian consulate moves into building seized from Polish NGO<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On April 4, the Consulate General of Russia in Hrodna moved into a building that had been confiscated from a Polish minority association at Haradni\u010danskaja Street 40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The building was previously home to the Polska Macierz Szkolna educational society, which was shut down in 2022 as part of Belarusian authorities\u2019 crackdown on NGOs and public initiatives. The building, constructed in 2011, was seized and auctioned off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polska Macierz Szkolna had been active in Hrodna since 1995, running a public lyceum named after Eliza Orzeszko, a library, an education program for seniors, and a women\u2019s club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steady deterioration in relations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tensions between Minsk and Warsaw escalated after Belarus’ disputed 2020 presidential election. \u0141uka\u0161enka has accused Warsaw of harboring plans to attack Belarus in order to capture the Hrodna region or western Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian state media have relentlessly attacked Poland, and the state-controlled news agency BelTA<\/em> launched a Polish-language version of its website. The media have also stoked hostility towards Belarusian Poles, accusing them of flying Polish flags at their homes. The government has cracked down on any manifestation of Polish identity in Belarus, often targeting Belarusian identity in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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