Фото: "Гродненская правда"
Belarusian businessman and member of the Council of the Republic Valiantsin Baiko attempted to challenge Polish national sanctions imposed on him in 2023. The measures included a ban on entry into the Schengen Area as well as an asset freeze. The relevant petition was submitted to Poland’s Ministry of the Interior and Administration in December last year.
By a decision of the Minister of the Interior and Administration published on January 28, the petition was rejected.
According to the published document, Baiko sought the annulment of the Schengen entry ban that Poland had entered into the SIS II system. He argued that the Polish decision was unlawful and that the sanctions imposed on him were disproportionate and discriminatory, thereby violating the European Convention on Human Rights and other legal instruments. The petition also stated that Baiko does not pose a real security threat, as he is not involved in the activities of law enforcement agencies or in ensuring state security. In addition, the sanctions were said to violate his rights to private and professional life due to restrictions on movement within the Schengen Area, which hinder the exercise of his professional activities.
After reviewing the petition, the Minister of the Interior and Administration decided to deny it. The justification noted, in particular, that as a member of the Council of the Republic, Baiko had participated after 2020 in the adoption of legislative acts “expanding the powers of Belarusian security forces and guaranteeing them impunity, as well as restricting citizens’ rights to public protests and criticism of the authorities and access to non-state sources of information.”
“Moreover, members of the Belarusian parliament participated in the adoption of legal acts legitimising a tougher policy by the government in Minsk with regard to historical issues and the activities of national minorities, which the Belarusian regime used, among other things, to discredit Poland and Lithuania as states allegedly seeking in the past to exterminate the Belarusian nation. Thus, the parliamentary activity of Valiantsin Baiko effectively turns into real repression against Belarusian citizens and the Polish community in Belarus,” the decision of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration states.
The document also cites other arguments in support of the minister’s position, including Baiko’s inclusion on sanctions lists of other countries.