Good relations with Belarusian society and the development of this country are of crucial importance to Poland which is willing to share its experience in the political transformation process. Promoting democracy, human rights, the rule of law and good governance at local, regional and national levels contributes to the economic and social development of Belarus. Therefore, Poland strives to undertake activities that stress the linkage among these values and that allow the effective support of institutions that protect these values. It is also crucial to spread initiatives that promote the empowerment of civil society. Making Belarus one of the priority countries of Polish foreign assistance results from a growing interest in the situation in that country. In 2006, Belarus was included in the list of recipient countries of the Official Development Assistance (ODA).

Polish development assistance initiatives carried out in Belarus include:

• dissemination of objective information about current situation, history and cultural identity of Belarus, especially in Belarusian language (support for BELSAT TV channel, radio broadcasting station, local press and Internet news web pages, etc.);
• support for civil society and development of local self-government;
• familiarising representatives of administration, intellectual and political circles, self-government, cultural and educational institutions with Polish and international experience in the following fields:
• democracy,
• respect for human and national minority rights,
• social solidarity;
• European integration and Euro-Atlantic co-operation,
• free market economy mechanisms;
• support for independent civil, educational, informational and cultural initiatives;
• dissemination of knowledge and sharing experience in the fields of non-governmental sector development, cross-border co-operation, education and small and medium-sized entrepreneurship.
• support for independent Belarusian culture and language.

2006

Providing support to Belarusian society was one of the chief priorities of Polish foreign assistance in 2006. Aggravation of the situation during presidential elections in March 2006 became a triggering factor for Polish activities related to supporting democratic institutions (including democratic opposition), building and enhancing civil society and free market economy in Belarus.

NGO initiatives that were financed in 2006 within the Polish aid programme included the following projects:

Belarusian Radio Racya

Access to independent information about national and international events is of utmost importance to Belarusian society. News broadcast must be competent, trustworthy and offered in the Belarusian language. A radio broadcasting station - Belarusian Radio Racya - broadcasts its information programmes from Polish and Lithuanian territories. It also has its own Internet news service (www.racyja.com), where one can find current news about Belarus.

TV Belarus

By financing two editions of training sessions for Belarusian journalists who will co-operate with Belarus TV, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported an initiative elaborated by the Polish TV Company Ltd. that consisted of the creation of a TV channel broadcasting programmes in Belarusian language. The goal of this initiative was to familiarise journalists with the standards of TV journalism and to share skills in the area of TV materials creation (finding topics, documentation, filming and montage techniques).

The MFA also co-financed an inauguration concert "Solidarity with the Poles in Belarus" in Bialystok on the occasion of the creation of the TV Belarus channel.

The Konstanty Kalinowski Scholarship Programme

The main goal of the programme is to help Belarusian students expelled from Belarusian universities due to their participation in activities in favour of democracy. This scholarship programme was created in March 2006, on the basis of the "Intention Letter" signed by Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz - the Prime Minister of Poland, Aleksander Milinkiewicz - presidential candidate in 2006 elections and the representative of the Democratic Block in Belarus, representatives of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (CRASP) and the Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities (CRPU).

The programme is directed to students from Belarus who were expelled from their universities due to involvement in activities aimed at protecting democratic values. These students were given an opportunity to continue their studies in Poland. The application procedure took place in the first half of 2006. The programme covered about 300 expelled students. Apart from scholarships, exemption from tuition and accommodation expenses, they were also offered a preparatory course, as well as Polish and English language courses. They also had a chance to take part in a cultural programme. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education co-operate in this project. The Centre for East European Studies of the University of Warsaw has been entrusted with the task of co-ordinating the programme.

In 2008, PLN 26 million was allocated for the development assistance provided to Belarus