Tragic Loss Of Polish Consul
Ryszard Badon-Lehr, Poland's vice-consul to the Belarusian city of Grodno has died, shortly after being evacuated from the country last week.
The tragic death of Mr. Badon-Lehr is likely to further inflame Polish-Belarusian relations, which reached an all-time low during last month's elections.
Over the last few months, Belarusian opposition leaders have been imprisoned, Polish journalists have been deported and there are many allegations that both Poles and Belarusian reformers have been physically attacked by the Belarusian state apparatus.
Mr Badon-Lehr was found unconscious at his flat last week, and Polish doctors are crying foul.
The Belarusian state hierarchy feels that Poland is stirring up unrest in Belarus, as well as undermining the Belarusian government in the world at large.
During the elections, which Belarisan Prseident Lukashenko won decisively, a placard carried by a man loyal to the Belarusian regime read:
'Kaczynski and Walesa: It's better to be Europe's last dictatorship than America's first prostitute.'
Although Western observers acknowledged the electoral victory of Lukashenko, they also highlighted numerous human rights abuses that helped to scupper the campaign of the opposition.