Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Jan Truszczynski said on the TVN24 television channel on 28 August that Poland will not recognize the newly elected leadership of the SPB because it was installed after pressure from Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime.
"The Polish government will not recognize the [SPB] authorities elected in this manner," Truszczynski said, adding that the election "violated all democratic norms." Warsaw's official position with regard to the SPB's new leadership has been backed by three main opposition parties -- the Civic Platform, Law and Justice, and the League of Polish Families.
"Gazeta Wyborcza" reported on 29 August that the Polish government will stop financing the current SPB while continuing assistance to the Polish minority in Belarus. According to "Gazeta Wyborcza," since 1989 Poland's upper house, the Senate, supported the 400,000-strong Polish minority in Belarus with some 29 million zlotys ($8.8 million according to the current exchange rate). This year the Senate reportedly allocated 2.4 million zlotys ($620,000) for Belarusian Poles.