The Committee of Ministers today held an exchange of views with Andrzej Poczobut, the 2025 Sakharov Prize laureate. He drew attention to the situation of the Polish minority in Belarus, as well as to the plight of imprisoned journalists and the many political prisoners being held in the country.
“I am convinced that Europe is the future of Belarus,” he told the ambassadors of the Council of Europe’s 46 member states.
A journalist and one of the leaders of the Union of Poles in Belarus, an organisation defending the rights of the Polish minority in Belarus, Andrzej Poczobut has been arrested and convicted on several occasions by the Belarusian authorities.
In March 2022, the Committee of Ministers decided to suspend all co-operation with the Belarusian authorities. Work with Belarusian civil society and democratic forces in exile has continued, particularly with young people, independent media and human rights defenders.
Council of Europe Contact Group on co-operation with Belarusian democratic forces and civil society
