2023-09-27 11:30:00
He also answers the question of whether Belarusians in Poland have problems in banks and administrations as citizens of a “co-aggressor country”, and considers whether Polish policy towards Belarus may change as a result of the victory of one or another party.
Briefly:
Belarus is hardly mentioned in the program documents of Polish parties or coalitions. PiS or the Civic Coalition will win – from a purely Belarusian point of view, there is no particular difference. According to the version of the ruling party, the decisive opposition to illegal migration from Belarus is proof of care for the interests of Poland and Poles.
— Parliamentary elections will be held in Poland on October 15. To what extent is the Belarusian theme present in the current hottest campaign? Can we say that she is far from important today?
– Yes, far from the main one, if we can talk about the existence of such a topic at all. A permanent topic is the fence on the Polish-Belarusian border and ways to solve the migrant crisis. But it is difficult to count this as a proper “Belarusian topic”, because these are questions from the category of Polish national security or humanitarian treatment of migrants.
Piotr Rudkovskii, archival photo
Belarus is hardly mentioned in the program documents of the parties or coalitions participating in the campaign. “New Left” generally notes the importance of supporting the fight against “Russian and Belarusian autocrats” and the importance of supporting the Polish minority in Belarus, but that’s all.
In political journalism, you can occasionally come across revealing texts about the policy of opponents in relation to Belarus. For example, supporters of the current ruling PiS party sometimes remind that during the administration of Donald Tusk, in 2011, the Polish prosecutor’s office “surrendered” Ales Bialiatski to the Belarusian authorities. In response, PiS opponents mention the visits of representatives of the ruling party to Minsk in 2016-2019 and their statements about the importance of warming relations with official Minsk. But this happens rather “on the margins” of the election controversy. These topics are far from central.
– We see how the Polish-Ukrainian contradictions flared up against the background of the elections and the exchange of rhetorical blows from both sides. It seems that until now there has been no such thing that the Belarusian topic also fell under the “emotional distribution” in the heat of the pre-election debates?
– Ukrainian-Polish contradictions are a separate and rather unpleasant topic. Unfortunately, my warnings, which I publicly expressed earlier, that the limit of “solidarity with Ukraine” may suddenly make itself known, came true. This theme manifested itself in all its glory in the context of the question about the import of Ukrainian grain.
In the case of Belarus, and in particular political immigration, questions of this type do not apply. And if the Belarusian topic can get “under the hand”, then only in the context of the migration crisis itself: in the ruling party’s version, both topics – the ban on the import of grain from Ukraine and the resolute opposition to illegal migration from Belarus – are proof of caring for the interests of Poland and Poles; in the version of their opponents, all this is proof of the defeat of the eastern policy of the ruling party.
— Together with the parliamentary elections, there will be a referendum, for which the ruling party submitted four questions – about pensions, migrants, privatization, and the fourth is: “Do you support the elimination of the barrier on the border between Poland and Belarus”? What does this mean?
– Here it is clear to the naked eye that the referendum is a political appendage to the elections and is intended to strengthen the position of the ruling party, and in case of its defeat in the elections, to weaken the political position of the new government. The questions are chosen and formulated in such a way that the absolute majority of those who will not boycott the referendum will answer them in accordance with the expectations of the current ruling party.
Therefore, if the opposition comes to power, it will be faced with a choice: either pursue policy according to the results of the referendum, and then they will find themselves in a humiliating position (they say, they criticized the previous government for so many years, and now you continue its policy), or pursue policy contrary to the results. and then there is criticism about the “anti-national nature” of the new government. In short, this is part of the internal political game and has no special connection with the “Belarusian issue” as such.
— Do the main political forces — the leading conservatives from the PIS and the liberals from the Civil Platform — have any strategic disagreements regarding the Belarusian issue? Can we say that regardless of the outcome of the elections, Poland’s strategic policy towards Belarus will remain the same?
– Now there is a political race, and the rare mentions of the actual Belarusian topic are not very informative. I think that the victory of PiS or the victory of the Civic Coalition – from a purely Belarusian point of view, there is no particular difference. However, this is one of the reasons why we, Belarusians, should not get too involved in the internal politics of Poland and take the side of one or another party.
– Poland remains one of the most open and favorable countries to Belarusians – both in the sense of reception and in the sense of helping democratic forces. After the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Belarusians recorded certain unfriendly acts – in some cases they did not open accounts, in some cases they did not issue documents. Can we say that this wave has passed and Polish state and commercial structures once again perceive Belarusians in a positive way?
– No, it didn’t pass. For example, a couple of weeks ago, my wife faced a problem in carrying out a simple bank transaction. It is because of the famous “Belarusian passport”. As a result, the case was decided in her favor, but this was due to the fact that, having a good command of the Polish language and being confident in her own truth, she demanded a meeting with the head of the bank’s department. But not everyone is fluent in Polish and not everyone feels so confident.
Here, however, one should be aware of the specifics of any bureaucratic system. There is an “emergency situation” in the form of Russian aggression against Ukraine, which was supported, from our perspective, by the “Belarusian regime”, from the perspective of the same banks – simply “Belarus”. General instructions or recommendations to banks are quickly developed. Well, rank-and-file employees who communicate directly with people must first of all be guided by these recommendations.
If, for example, the recommendation is worded like “If you believe that there is no threat in this case, you can satisfy the request, but if it turns out that the person misused banking services, then you (or your department) will be responsible for the consequences” – it is clear that the prevailing most clerks will play it safe. It is less risky to refuse “just in case” than to grant a request. Returning to my case with my wife, it can be stated that, by and large, this is an unfortunate by-product of the war and attempts to counter the aggressors.
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