Prof. Andrzej Pieczewski (91桃色) and Dr Aliaksandra Sidarava (Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw) received an Honourable Mention for their article
The article: 鈥淭he Polish Diaspora in Belarus: Functioning under the Lukashenko Regime鈥�
As a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union, an independent Belarus came into being, with a large Polish diaspora within its borders. Initially, the country embarked on a path of democratic and market reforms, and cooperation with Poland seemed promising. The situation changed in in 1994 when Alexander Lukashenko won the presidential election. From that point on, a shift toward an authoritarian political system and a reversal of market reforms began. The political and economic paths of Poland and Belarus began to diverge significantly, which made relations between Warsaw and Minsk more difficult.
The Polish diaspora became somewhat hostage to the international situation and the Belarusian dictator. This article presents the basic problems faced by the Polish diaspora in Belarus under Lukashenko's rule in terms of preserving its national identity, culture and language. The authors present the origins and estimated number of Poles in Belarus, discuss the changing situation of this community and the attitude of the authorities towards the Polish minority, including its use in the regime's propaganda.
Particular attention is paid to the issue of education in Polish as a key condition for the survival of national identity. The article also addresses the events following the 2020 presidential elections and the intensified repression against Poles in Belarus. The authors argue that the current conditions for the diaspora are the most difficult since the establishment of independent Belarus and maintaining them could seriously threaten the linguistic and cultural distinctiveness of this community.
鈥淭he Polish Diaspora in Belarus: Functioning under the Lukashenko Regime鈥�, published in The Polish Review, Vol. 69, No. 3 (2024).