The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs recalled that in 2020, the presidential elections in Belarus were rigged and the situation following these elections led to over 1,500 people being considered by Poland and democratic circles as political prisoners of the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

“All actions by the previous Polish government, the previous Sejm, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not yield results, and I cannot say that our actions significantly improved this situation, because they did not. The number of political prisoners is increasing, and repression is increasing,” Bartoszewski said.

He added that the parliamentary elections held on February 25 in Belarus had nothing to do with true democracy.

He stated that Lukashenko’s announcement of running in the next presidential elections in 2025 shows that the political crisis in Belarus will persist and there is no end in sight.

“At the moment, Belarus is strongly connected through its activities, including anti-Ukrainian activities, with Putin’s Russia, and we are striving to ensure that all sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation are extended by other countries to Belarus as well,” Bartoszewski said.

He added that sanctions are one of the best ways to pressure the regime, and Russia bypasses some of them “through the territory of Belarus.”

“One of the main tasks of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to keep the Belarusian issue on the EU agenda,” Bartoszewski declared.

He also assured that Poland will raise the Belarusian issue at all international forums, in particular the necessity of releasing all political prisoners.