Opposition education initiative, Polish children’s foundation labeled extremist groups

May 23, BPN. On May 17, the Committee for State Security (KGB) blacklisted the opposition’s Personnel Reserve for New Belarus campaign as an extremist group, the interior ministry’s updated website says.

Created in mid-November 2022 by the opposition’s transition cabinet, the campaign aims to train specialists for a democratic Belarus. In early February, it reportedly received 170 applications and set up a plan for a pilot educational program.

Authorities say that the campaign led by the exiled opposition groups “carries out extremist activities” via its social media pages and on pr-belarus.org and edu.pr-belarus.org websites.

On May 16, the KGB also blacklisted the Poland-based Ręka wielkiej pomocy foundation that assists children with intellectual disabilities. The Belarusian secret service claims some of its members are engaged in extremist activities via fundacja-rwp.com and the foundation’s Facebook page.