Planned events include a March of Freedom and a "New Belarus" conference, both aimed at highlighting continued resistance to Lukashenko's rule among the country’s exiled opposition and reaffirming their push for democratic change.
The march, organized by members of the Belarusian opposition, is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Józef Piłsudski Square in the Polish capital.
The conference is set to run on Saturday and Sunday at the University of Warsaw.
Both events are tied to the August 9, 2020, vote officially won by Lukashenko, 70, who has ruled Belarus since 1994. The result of the election was not recognised by the democratic opposition and many Western governments.
On Saturday evening, Warsaw's landmark Palace of Culture and Science will be illuminated in the colours of the Belarusian national flag as a symbol of solidarity.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled opposition leader widely seen as the actual winner of the 2020 vote, said the anniversary is an opportunity "to once again remind ourselves and the world that every day we fight for a free and democratic country.”
Minsk protests Warsaw events
Earlier this week, Belarus summoned Poland’s chargé d’affaires to protest the planned commemorations.
It said in an X post that Warsaw was "staging an anti-Belarus event with exiles as actors and Polish authorities as directors."
The foreign ministry in Minsk said it issued a formal note of protest on Tuesday, accusing the organizers—whom it described as members of the Belarusian diaspora "known for destructive and provocative actions"—of attempting to damage Belarus and justify sanctions against it.
"Such actions cause direct harm to Belarus-Poland relations and do nothing to restore a constructive dialogue," ministry spokesman Ruslan Varankou said in a statement.
He added that Belarus would "closely monitor the situation" and reserved the right to take unspecified "countermeasures" in response to what it considers "provocative actions," Polish state news agency PAP reported.
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Source: PAP