Independent Belarusian portal Pozirk reported that the AKC Most language school was closed on November 13, but the institution’s website and social media have shared no information about a suspension of activities.

Students and parents found out about the closure through online group chats but were not given a reason for the decision.

Since Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko won the country’s contested elections in 2020, he has clamped down heavily on educational institutions offering Polish language classes.

Minsk has accused these institutions of taking measures aimed at destabilizing the state and of being part of Poland’s “soft power” in Belarus.

At the beginning of 2021, the government launched a crackdown on the Union of Poles, an organization for Belarus’ community of ethnic Poles, some of whom have been vocal opponents of Lukashenko’s regime.

Polish legal and business daily newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reported earlier this year that the Belarus authorities intended to close ten private institutions teaching Polish.

Online Belarusian portal Zerkalo reported that AKC Most has been operating since 2006. More than 18,000 students have graduated from the school, which is the largest foreign language learning center in the western Belarusian region of Brest.

The school’s website says it is "the first commercial institution in the region to offer professional Polish language courses.”

In October, the authorities closed the Streamline Language School, another popular center which offered Polish lessons.