Union of Poles in Belarus Holds 11th Reporting and Election Congress

The public association "Union of Poles in Belarus" held its 11th reporting and election congress in Minsk. The organization was registered in 1991 and includes more than 30 structural divisions in the regions of Belarus.

The public association aims to preserve Polish culture and traditions, while being an integral part of the multinational Belarusian people. Poles living in Belarus do not separate themselves from the country and contribute to its development.

In total, about 40 delegates from all regions of Belarus took part in the congress. They summed up the work and discussed plans for the near future. As part of the event, a new head of the "Union of Poles in Belarus" was elected. The candidacy of Mecheslav Lysy was supported by a majority of votes.

Mecheslav Lysy, Chairman of the Public Association "Union of Poles in Belarus":

"President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly emphasized that the Poles are Belarusian Poles who live on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. This greatly helps us in our activities. Relations with government bodies are built on this basis. Unfortunately, interstate relations affect us. We, as Poles, would like to have good relations between Belarus and Poland, because our roots are there too. Let them be ancient and distant roots, but we still want to improve relations. I think that our union will contribute to "tying the threads" in the cultural sense, in terms of relationships, contractual delegations, and the exchange of artists."

According to the 2019 census, representatives of 156 nationalities live in Belarus. 287,693 people identified themselves as Poles, making them the third largest national community.