Posted on 07/29/2005 11:06:48 AM PDT by lizol
Poles deserve the West's support Mark Lenzi International Herald Tribune
SATURDAY, JULY 30, 2005
One of the more dramatic political dramas playing out in Europe this summer is the profound increase in tension between new NATO and EU member Poland and its eastern neighbor, the pariah state of Belarus.
Almost unheard of in Europe nowadays, a political shoving match complete with a war of words, the expulsions of numerous diplomats from Warsaw and Minsk and, on Thursday, Poland's recall of its ambassador, has broken out between the two countries over the Belarusian government's harassment and poor treatment of ethnic Poles living in Belarus.
The ethnic Polish community in Belarus - about 400,000 people or roughly 4 percent of the Belarusian population - has been square in the crosshairs of the Belarusian dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko ever since the Orange Revolution in neighboring Ukraine last year toppled a like-mindedly corrupt regime. Lukashenko's fear that he will be ousted in a similar popular uprising has caused him to crack down brutally on minorities and organizations that he fears may not continue to stay silent in the face of his illegitimate and increasingly authoritarian rule. Topping his hit list was the Union of Poles in Belarus - the largest nongovernmental organization in the country and one with democratic credentials and close ties to Poland.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
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