MINSK, 20 February (BelTA) – The Belarusian parliament resents the intention of Polish nationalists to stage a far-right march in Hajnowka, a Polish town heavily populated with ethnic Belarusians, BelTA learned from Chairman of the International Affairs Commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Valery Voronetsky.
According to the source, the Belarusian parliament resents and regrets the news that Polish nationalist organizations intend to stage another far-right march in the town of Hajnowka where a number of ethnic Belarusians live. Judging by the advertisements in social networks, the march is supposed to glorify actions of individual leaders of the Polish underground resistance movement after the end of World War Two. Romuald Rajs, a war criminal and the mastermind of repressions against Orthodox Christians in the Podlachia region of Poland, is one of them. “Initiators of this questionable event believe it is their moral duty to make sure that Polish thinking prevails in this red land in the end,” said Valery Voronetsky.
The MP reminded that Romuald Rajs is “famed” for extremely atrocious murders of primarily ethnic Belarusians of Orthodox Christian faith. He burned down entire villages together with their inhabitants. “The gang ringleader killed and maimed hundreds of civilians, including women, children, and elderly people. The National Remembrance Institute of Poland describes the elimination of Belarusian villages and Orthodox residents in the Podlachia region as a crime with attributes of genocide,” stressed Valery Voronetsky.
“The organization of the march and the screening of a documentary, which glorifies Romuald Rajs and war criminals of the same kind in Hajnowka, a town where most of the population are of Belarusian origin, represent nothing but a provocation designed to artificially foment tensions and strife between Belarusians and Poles, between Orthodox and Catholic Christians. It is particularly cynical because the event has been scheduled despite the Polish law on criminal prosecution for the propaganda of the so-called Bandera ideology,” added the MP.
Valery Voronetsky warned: “It is obvious that the seeds sown by the Polish radicals can sprout and bear bitter fruit.” The fact that such events are possible in a country, which citizens have experienced the consequences of fascism and radical nationalism firsthand, indicates there are gaps in the memory of the Polish nation. Such actions lie outside the framework of modern culture of any democratic European country, which advocates peace and accord and the advancement of friendly relations with its neighbors, believes the MP.
Valery Voronetsky said he hopes that Polish parliamentarians and clear-headed citizens of Poland will be able to properly evaluate such actions and prevent them.
