Events

13 Oct 2023

Belarus condemns Poland’s decision to deny entry to Belarusian MP

An archive photo

MINSK, 13 October (BelTA) – Belarus condemns in the strongest possible terms the decision of the Polish authorities to deny entry to a Belarusian parliamentarian, member of the national delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly who was officially included in the OSCE PA election observation mission that was set to monitor the upcoming parliamentary elections in Poland on 15 October, BelTA learned from the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus.

“We strongly condemn the decision of the Polish authorities to deny entry to a Belarusian parliamentarian, member of the national delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly who was officially included in the OSCE PA election observation mission that was set to monitor the upcoming parliamentary elections in Poland on 15 October,” Press Secretary of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Anatoly Glaz said.

He recalled that Warsaw included all Belarusian deputies and senators in its national visa lists and Schengen visa lists. However, Poland’s unilateral politicized decision stripped Belarus of the opportunity to fully participate in the OSCE election observation throughout Europe.

“Discrimination against members of the OSCE PA international observation mission in an attempt to filter out ‘undesirable’ observers is a gross violation by the Polish authorities of their OSCE commitments,” Anatoly Glaz said.

“Perhaps Warsaw is afraid that the participation of one Belarusian parliamentarian in monitoring the elections in Poland will undermine national security? Or does Warsaw, which claims the role of a regional democracy champion, have something to hide from independent international observers?” Anatoly Glaz asked a rhetorical question.

According to the spokesman, such actions undermine confidence in the electoral process in Poland and raise doubts about the fairness and transparency of these elections. “Moreover, such actions by the country that hosts the headquarters of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the key institution entrusted with the task of election observation in the OSCE area, hamper the entire system of inclusive election observation,” he added. “The OSCE is unable to enforce its own rules. In such a situation, it is not surprising that countries are turning to other structures that are able to conduct a non-discriminatory, truly independent and professional election observation.

Belarus will have to take this unfriendly step of Warsaw into account when building its bilateral relations with Poland, and even more so when deciding on inviting foreign observers to monitor elections in Belarus in the future, Anatoly Glaz emphasized.

As BelTA reported, Poland denied entry to member of the House of Representatives Denis Karas who was going to participate in the international observation of the parliamentary elections in Poland.

"The Republic of Poland officially invited the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, its member states and organizations, including the Parliamentary Assembly, to take part in the international observation of the upcoming parliamentary elections in their country. The Republic of Belarus responded to this proposal. In accordance with the decision by the leadership of the House of Representatives, my candidacy as a member of Belarus’ national delegation to the OSCE PA was submitted to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in accordance with the established procedure and in line with all the requirements," Denis Karas said. “The OSCE PA formed its observation mission for the upcoming elections, in which I was officially included. My data was promptly sent to the Central Election Commission of Poland for accreditation as an international observer from the OSCE PA."

It was expected that the Belarusian MP would monitor the elections in Warsaw. "Indeed, any country has the right to deny entry to foreign citizens. We do not dispute this right. However, by the time we approached the border on 12 October, we had not received any signals from Poland or the OSCE PA International Secretariat that my candidacy as an observer was unacceptable to the Polish authorities. That Belarusian Parliament proceeded from that while sending me on a business trip," the MP noted. "Despite the difficult situation in relations between Belarus and Poland, the status of an OSCE participating state and the very fact of sending an invitation to monitor the elections oblige Warsaw to comply with the law and provide the access of international observers to the elections."

"We are extremely disappointed with the decision of the Polish authorities who used a far-fetched pretext to deny entry to Poland to the Belarusian observer to monitor the parliamentary elections in Poland as part of the OSCE PA observation mission," the MP added. According to him, Minsk views this decision as another unfriendly step, outright arbitrariness and discrimination against international observers. The motives that the Polish authorities were guided by while making this openly unfriendly decision are incomprehensible for Belarus. In any case, it undermines confidence in the electoral process in Poland and raises doubts about the fairness and transparency of the elections.

"In general, in my opinion, such actions undermine any credibility in the very idea of inclusive election observation under the auspices of the OSCE. The observation when representatives of neighboring countries are excluded from the process with the tacit consent of the assembly is worthless," Denis Karas said.



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