Another Belarusian in Poland, first months in Warsaw, impressions, a bit of politics and differences between Belarusian and Polish protest movements.
Hello there! My name is Lisa and about a month ago I arrived in Warsaw to be a part of Schuman Solidarity Crew. I’m going to stay here for the next 11 months so will probably have plenty of things to share with you.
First of all, how silly of me it was thinking that coming to Poland from Belarus would finally let me take a deep breath and have a small break from political activism and the situation happening in the country. Lol, no.
To start with, there soon will be more Belarussians in Poland than in Belarus: due to political, historical and other reasons, a lot of people from Belarus move to Poland, especially recently. I too have polish roots, which was one of the reasons I am here now.
However, it is not what the post is about.
As you might know, there were presidential elections in August in Belarus. And once again the official results declared the victory of the only president this country has seen – Alexandr Lukashenko, – which ended up with huge protests all over Belarus which are going up till now.
We have weekly Sunday marches, Saturday women marches, Monday seniors marches, Solidarity chains, local community evening meetings and so on. During the last couple of months of my staying in Belarus I thought I had seen if not everything, but a lot when it comes to protesting. However, Poland still managed to surprise me.
And what about Poland?
In what have been the largest demonstrations in the country since the fall of communism in 1989, tens of thousands of people have been marching in Poland to protest a new high court ruling that imposes a near-total ban on abortion, blocking major roads and bridges and chanting anti-government slogans.We joined the crowd and immediately felt the mood of the people there. Anger, rage and absolute intolerance to what is happening could be felt in the air above the crowd. And this is the first difference I noticed. While Belarusians bring flowers, singing lullabies, wearing white and chanting “We want peace”, Polish women want PiS* to piss off. “To jest wojna” – they scream, declaring the beginning of the war that the government caused. No flowers, no dresses, but a lot of posters (we don’t have that many) and red lightning signs – the symbol of the protest. While the Belarussian protest is white, Polish women* wear black and red, while Belarussians beg for peace and justice, Polish are too fed up with the government actions and are ready to dispense justice themselves.
The very next day I saw an incredible amount of red lightnings and all over the Warsaw. Buildings, fences, roads, benches, walls – red painted marks as a warning for everyone that it will not stop until they withdraw the law.
It could also be the police that makes it different. When I first participated in an event in Warsaw (it was a march to support Belarussian women) some police officers approached us – I felt anxiety and fear, having flashbacks of numerous arrests and police brutality in my home country, but apparently, they were only here to protect. They followed us through the whole path providing safety on the roads and making sure there were no conflicts.
It was also funny to notice that when we saw the police at one of the women marches here my German roommate felt safer and was really surprised with my intention to run away. It is true, while German police are considered to be a friend, and Belarusian – an enemy, I am still not sure how to feel about the polish law enforcement and non of my Polish friends (who I don’t have many) could agree on one definition.
I did feel much safer than in Minsk when polish police were around and in general, there were not as many of them as you normally see during the protests in Minsk, but I have heard about their brutality from the news so it is still controversial.
Another thing I have noticed is the amount of LGBT+ flags at the protests. While Poland is being really tough for people from the community, creating their LGBT-free zones, I felt incredibly happy by the amount of their representation at the protests. It is still a big issue for Belarus where non-heteronormative people feel voiceless. Whenever there is a post on social media with a rainbow flag – the comments are always negative even from the rest of the protesters.
I believe this is just the beginning for both of the countries. We are at the start of something great to happen, so if you dont want to miss anything, stay tuned and see you soon 🙂