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Poland will make it easier for Belarusians to obtain visas

27.08.2020 13:30
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has decided to make it easier for Belarusians to obtain Polish visas, an official in Warsaw said on Thursday, adding that three victims of a crackdown in Belarus have come to Poland.
People attend a peaceful protest rally against the results of the presidential elections, in Minsk, Belarus, 26 August 2020.
People attend a peaceful protest rally against the results of the presidential elections, in Minsk, Belarus, 26 August 2020.Photo: EPA/TATYANA ZENKOVICH

The three citizens of Belarus allegedly fell victim to repression by the authorities in that country after nationwide protests following a disputed August 9 presidential election.

The three will be admitted to a hospital in Warsaw, Michał Dworczyk, head of the Polish Prime Minister’s Office, told Polish private news outlet Polsat News.

Dworczyk said that Poland’s prime minister "made a decision yesterday that the normal functioning of consulates in Belarus will be restored” on Friday, and that they would “issue visas to all Belarusians in a facilitated procedure.”

So far visas have been issued only to Belarusians who wanted to come to Poland for professional and humanitarian purposes, he added.

Morawiecki promised earlier this month that his country would seek to support its neighbour Belarus by opening its borders and labour market while providing financial support to civil society after a violent crackdown on post-election protests.

A series of massive demonstrations have swept Belarus this month to protest strongman Alexander Lukashenko's claim to a sixth term as president in an election widely dismissed as rigged.

The official results of the August 9 election handed Lukashenko, in power for more than a quarter of a century, an 80 percent share of the vote, while Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Lukashenko's main electoral opponent, took around 10 percent.

(jh/pk)

Source: PAP