Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski held talks on Thursday with Belarusian opposition figures Sviatlana and Siarhei Tsikhanouski.
Greeting Siarhei, who was released from a Belarusian prison last Saturday, Sikorski asked simply, “How is your health?”
Poland’s foreign ministry said on social media that the meeting reaffirmed a shared goal of securing the release of all political prisoners in Belarus, including journalist Andrzej Poczobut.
Tsikhanouski thanked the Polish foreign minister for his “support for the Belarusian people,” adding: “And my personal gratitude for taking symbolic godparenthood over me while I was imprisoned - an act of invaluable solidarity. This kind of friendship brightens even the darkest days,” said the opposition figure, who spent five years jailed by Lukashenko’s regime.
Earlier in the day, the Tsikhanouskis met President Andrzej Duda at the Presidential Palace.
In the evening, they joined members of the Belarusian diaspora at a rally near Warsaw’s Nicolaus Copernicus monument.
Tsikhanouskaya expressed her gratitude for the outpouring of support, from donations and letters to political prisoners to demonstrations demanding their freedom.
The politician stressed that despite recent progress, over 1,150 people remain imprisoned for political reasons. She also called on supporters to stay united in their efforts until Belarus achieves full democracy.
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Source: MSZ/IAR/PAP
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