Bantsar: Decision on "Polish Charter" brings no changes to Union of Poles
Belarusian Poles will not feel any consequences of the Constitutional Court's decision, activist of the non-official Union of Poles Ihar Bantsar thinks.
Let us remind you, the Constitutional Court decided against the "Polish Charter" on April 7. Like, some norms of the Polish law "On Polish Charter" do not meet international legal norms.
Bantsar has said in a comment to Euroradio that the members of the organization did not even pay attention to this decision. He says that the decision is more likely to influence inter-state relations than the repressions against certain people.
Bantsar: “As a Charter holder I can tell you for sure: I have no expectations in this regard. I do not feel any guilt and this decision does not make me feel inconvenient in my everyday life. I will continue using the Polish Charter at the territory of Poland, where I have clearly specified rights due to this Charter. Nothing will change here, we are not expecting new wave of repressions to start. We should consider this decision as a political step. It may become the first step to put pressure on Poland. Maybe the authorities will start another anti-Polish campaign in the media. I don't think all this will end in repressions against the Charter holders”.
On the other hand, Bantsar says, a possibility of new repressions from the side of the Belarusian authorities should not be denied beforehand. Our authorities have a very specific approach to the law:
Bantsar: “In a situation when people are sent to prison in Minsk for going along a street or for some peaceful protest action, and they are imprisoned for long terms... Naturally, the Consitutional Court's decision will lead to some concrete decisions of the executive authorities - police, public prosecutor's offices. However, we got used to this. Our Union of Poles has not been recognized so far, thus this decision changes nothing for us.”.
Bantsar reminds that the Polish Charter grants some privileges at the territory of Poland
Bantsar: “I can obtain a free long-term Polish visa due to this Charter. Everyone obtains free Polish visas now (and I think they are long-term), but it wasn't like this before. Also, there are discounts for railway tickets in Poland, free admission to museums".
However, the most important thing about the Polish Charter, according to the activist, is that it gives one a feeling of being a part of the Polish people.
Photo: levonevski.net
