Poland Will Offer Assistance to Belarusian Society

December 23, 2010 Poland may open its borders for Belarusian citizens, simplifying entry formalities and lifting the EUR 20 fee for visas, in a move meant to punish Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for falsifying the results of the weekend presidential elections in Belarus and for persecuting members of the opposition. Other measures under consideration include Poland launching a campaign of inviting young Belarusians for scholarship programs on a large scale, extending the activity of Polish media dealing with Belarusian affairs (Radio Racja and TV channel Bielsat), which are to provide independent information for Belarusians, as well as re-introducing and extending the black list of Belarus top state officials who cannot enter Poland and other EU member states, the daily Rzeczpospolita writes. Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Radoslaw Sikorski demanded from his Belarusian counterpart Syarhey Martynau that Belarusian authorities release all the oppositionists, the daily reports. Sikorski also said that, according to his sources, Lukashenko had lost the elections, obtaining much less than 50% of votes. Source: The Warsaw Voice