Tuesday, September 08, 2020






'Snowball effect' in Belarus unstoppable - Solidarity leader

NEWS & POLITICS
(PAP) MB/JCH SEPTEMBER 08, 2020
  
Duda said that Poland was striving to help Belarus, but had to move within diplomatic boundaries to avoid accusations of meddling in the internal affairs of the country.Radek Pietruszka/PAP

The process that is underway in Belarus is unstoppable, Solidarity Union leader Piotr Duda said on Tuesday after returning from the Belarusian capital city Minsk.

Recounting his talks in Minsk, Duda cited Alexander Jaroshuk, head of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, who described the developments in Belarus as "snowballing," and unstoppable. Duda added that Solidarity intended to support Belarus's free trade union and to aid the families of unionists.

Duda also noted the need for measures to ensure that funds channelled to the Belarusian opposition from Solidarity's "Solidarity With Belarus" fund were really reaching those for whom they were intended and not taken over by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.

He also announced plans to establish scholarships for Belarusian students in Poland and to organise holidays for Belarusian children.

Duda also said that Poland was striving to help Belarus, but had to move within diplomatic boundaries to avoid accusations of meddling in the internal affairs of the country.

On Wednesday Duda is scheduled to meet Svyatlana Tschikhanouska, Lukashenko's main opponent in the rigged August 9 presidential elections which sparked the mass protests that are underway in the country.

Asked what he planned to discuss with Tschikhanouska, Duda said he planned to "listen more, rather than to speak."

"The situation is very difficult. This is why we agreed after the talks that I will meet in Warsaw with PM Mateusz Morawiecki to inform him about the current situation in Belarus, which I am familiar with thanks to reports from my friends, (the Belarusian - PAP) trade unionists," the Solidarity head said.

Tuesday marks the 31st day of mass protests in Belarus after a rigged August presidential election gave a landslide victory to the country's to-date strongman Alexander Lukashenko, leaving the strongly supported Tschikhanouska with a mere 10 percent of the vote.


Solidarity head leaves for Belarus on Monday

(PAP) AT/EJ SEPTEMBER 07, 2020
Solidarity head leaves for Belarus on MondayAdam Warżawa/PAP

Solidarity trade union head Piotr Duda is leaving for Belarus on Monday to meet with leader of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions Alexander Yaroshuk, Duda's spokesman Marek Lewandowski announced.

Lewandowski wrote in a press release that Piotr Duda is going to Minsk at the invitation of the congress. He is planned to meet Yaroshuk to talk about the current situation in Belarus. "Of course, if he is allowed to enter," Lewandowski said.

"We will exchange views about the current challenges in Europe as well as the ones facing the Belarusian national trade union movement," the spokesman wrote, adding that the talk will also be focused on democracy, attacks against the freedom of associations as well as international mechanisms and tools designed to solve such problems, the strengthening of Belarusian trade unions, the development of trade union education and challenges facing Belarusian workers.

Duda and Yaroshuk are also planned to speak about charity aid and support planned as part of the Polish trade union fund 'Solidarity with Belarus."

On August 9, Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected president of Belarus having allegedly acquired 80.1 percent of the vote in the national elections, while his main contender Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya ostensibly garnered 10.1 percent. Belarusians, who believe that the election has been fixed, have been staging protests since election day.

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