Letters

Poland upholds democratic values

Lukashenko’s regime has weaponised migration and violated human rights

Fri Jul 22 2022 - 00:11

Sir, – Oliver Sears in “What we must do to save liberal democracy” (Opinion & Analysis, July 20th) is right to state that democracy needs to be protected. No one should take it for granted and we must all strive to uphold its values. However, I fundamentally disagree with the statement that Poland is now, according to Mr Sears, a “barely democratic country”.

Poland has fought a long and hard struggle to become a fully democratic state, and one that also supports other states and people fighting for their freedom. Poland has introduced changes to its justice system for the exact reasons that Mr Sears mentions: democracy needs “constant maintenance, reform and protection”.

I also take issue with Mr Sears’s untrue and hurtful statement that Poland “shamefully keeps hundreds of refugees from Syria in a no man’s land between Belarus and its own border, preventing them from claiming asylum”. Mr Sears would be advised to pay more attention to what is actually happening on the Polish-Belarusian border and not fall victim of the disinformation campaign. The campaign of the Belarusian regime is calculated to destabilise Poland and the European Union. First of all, there is no “no man’s land”. On the one side is Poland, on the other is Belarus. Second, Alexander Lukashenko’s regime has weaponised migration and violated human rights by lying to migrants and intentionally bringing them to the Polish border and forcing them to cross illegally into an EU state. Third, Poland defends not only its state border, but also protects the external borders of Nato and the European Union. It is Poland’s responsibility as an EU border country to protect all the member states from illegal immigration. Poland’s firm actions were supported by the international community, which also unequivocally condemned Minsk’s hostile actions.

I am also disheartened reading how little Mr Sears thinks of Poland’s stance in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine. I, on the other hand, am most proud of my country and people who have showed incredible and sincere support for Ukrainians fleeing their country in order to escape the brutality of Putin’s forces. I know the majority of Irish people share my feelings.

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This is the third time that Mr Sears has used The Irish Times as his platform to belittle Poland. In a letter (June 30th, 2021), he wrote that Poles risking their lives to protect their Jewish neighbours against Nazi persecution is only “a mythic and heroic narrative”. In the letter and in his article (July 9th, 2020), he claimed that during the second World War, his grandfather Pawel Rozenfeld was arrested by the Polish police and that in 1940 the Polish state (there was no Polish state in 1940, as Poland was occupied by the Germans) took over his grandfather’s factory. The historical record shows that Pawel Rozenfeld was arrested by the German Gestapo and the factory in 1940 was taken over by the Germans.

Mr Sears should consider putting his writing skills and connections to better use by writing about Ukraine’s plight and urging states to do more, so as to save it from falling into the hands of a state that has no interest in upholding democracy, instead of unjustly attacking the country that has been at the forefront of assistance to Ukraine. – Yours, etc,

ANNA SOCHANSKA,

Ambassador,

Embassy of the

Republic of Poland,

Dublin 4.