Warsaw slams painting-over of Polish-themed mural in Belarus

March 1, BPN. Minsk’s order to paint over a church mural depicting the Red Army’s defeat by the Poles in 1920 is incompatible with the civilized world standards, the Polish foreign ministry said.

“We condemn the destruction of the Polish cultural heritage in Belarus by [Alaksandr] Łukašenka’s regime,” its spokesman Łukasz Jasina tweeted, noting that the mural was also an integral part of the Belarusian history.

The mural, in the Catholic church in Soły, Hrodna region, was painted over on February 28, a source told BPN.

Last January, Belarus 1, a state-run television channel, lashed out at the parish’s priest, Leanard Stankoŭski, claiming that the mural incited hatred and that Catholic priests wanted to return Western Belarus under Poland’s control.

Prominent Belarusian artist Piotr Sierhievič painted the mural in the late 1930s. Later, Soviet authorities painted it over. The mural was restored and consecrated after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Belarusian-Polish relations have soured in that last few years as Belarusian authorities continue persecuting Polish minority activists. Last year, Belarusian authorities bulldozed several Polish military cemeteries.

In February, Warsaw closed the major crossing after a Belarusian court sentenced a reporter of Polish origin, Andrzej Poczobut, to eight years in prison on charges widely believed to be politically motivated.