Tikhanovskaya Asks Polish Prime Minister To Allow Belarusian Expatriates To Work In Poland

WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2020) Belarusian opposition figure Svetlana Tikhanovskaya on Tuesday asked Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to permit Belarusian citizens who left their homeland for Poland to work in the country.

"Today, at the meeting with Prime Minister Morawiecki, I handed him a letter in which I ask to amend the laws so that people who come to Poland as part of humanitarian programs, who were forced to leave Belarus, could work in Poland ... We do not want to live here [Poland] at the expense of other people. It is very important for us so that we can work and make a living," Tikhanovskaya said.

According to the former presidential candidate's press service, the politician provided a list of recommendations for Polish authorities on how to improve the process for obtaining humanitarian visas to Poland, as well as obtaining the right to work in the European country.

"The prime minister said that Poland was ready to vote to waive restrictions on the right to work with humanitarian visas," the press service wrote on Telegram, adding that "the rehabilitation of Belarusians who were seriously injured during protests [in Belarus], as well as athlete scholarships were discussed during the meeting."

According to Warsaw's estimates, 707 Belarusian citizens arrived in Poland between August 18 and October 18. Of those, 399 entered the country with humanitarian visas, while 170 people lodged applications for international protection.

Tikhanovskaya herself fled to Lithuania following the August 9 presidential election in Belarus, which saw incumbent Alexander Lukashenko secure a sixth term in office by a landslide.

The Belarusian opposition and the European Union, which has slapped sanctions on roughly 40 Belarusian officials, have rejected the results of the vote. Unauthorized opposition protests have been held regularly in Belarus since the election.