MINSK, 27 February (BelTA) – The march of remembrance for “the cursed soldiers” in the Polish town of Hajnowka is a cynical provocation aimed at fanning tensions between the Belarusians and the Poles, reads the comment by Andrei Naumovich, the chairman of the permanent commission on human rights, national relations and mass media, the head of the working group of the National Assembly of Belarus on cooperation with the Parliament of Poland.
“The March glorifying war criminals, in Hajnowka, a town with the Belarusian ethnic majority, is, in my opinion, a cynical provocation aimed to instigate hostility among the Belarusians and the Poles, fan tensions on the ethnic and religious grounds,” the commentary reads.
The commentary notes that it is with great sadness that the Belarusian Parliament received the news about another march of the radical right in the Polish town of Hajnowka to glorify some individuals of the Polish underground of the 1940-1950 known as the ‘cursed soldiers'. “We cannot ignore the historical truth that some of these individuals are to blame for the killing of dozens of civilians in the Podlasie region on ethnic grounds. It would not be superfluous to recall that one of those ‘field commanders' Romuald Rajs, nom de guerre ‘Bury', ordered the destruction of 60 Belarusian villages, including the village of Zaleszany whose residents were burned alive,” Andrei Naumovich said. He added that Romuald Ric's actions were officially recognized as genocide by the Polish judicial authorities.
“Realizing that this event is held in defiance of the position of the official authorities of the Republic of Poland, I call on the colleagues in Polish Parliament to resolutely condemn such provocations and prevent them in the future,” the Belarusian MP said.
