Speaker Terlecki writes a letter to Tsikhanouskaya with no apologies

In a letter addressed to Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Deputy Speaker of Poland's lower house of parliament, the Sejm, Ryszard Terlecki wrote he was surprised that she had accepted an invitation to a Campus Polska 2021 event organised by Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski. In his opinion, she had done so, "not because of ill intentions, but rather due to a lack of reliable knowledge".

"I'd like to realise that, by accepting an invitation to a rally of anti-government organisation, you place yourself on one side of political front" - Terlecki wrote.

In his opinion, "due to a lack of reliable knowledge" Tsikhanouskaya "wrongly served the Belarusian cause in Poland, and by parading with politician from a party which had lost six elections".

"Also by doing that, you have discouraged many Polish people from supporting you as Belarusian president-elect" - he added.

Terlecki stressed he has always considered Belarus as being Poland's closest neighbour in terms of culture and mentality.

He also reassured that his sympathy for Belarusian nation remained unchanged, and he wished Belarusian activists all the best in their difficult struggle.

The letter was a response to a controversy raised by Terlecki himself, when he had criticised Tsikhanouskaya in a tweet.

"If Tsikhanouskaya wants to advertise the anti-democratic opposition in Poland and speak at Trzaskowski's meeting, let her look for help in Moscow, and let us support a Belarusian opposition that is not on the side of our opponents," he wrote on Twitter late on Friday.

Tsikhanouskaya met Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, a member of Poland's biggest opposition party, during a visit to Warsaw last week which she used to call for increased Western pressure on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Poland's nationalist government is critical of Lukashenko, who has cracked down on his opponents, and Warsaw has voiced support for the Belarusian opposition.

Tsikhanouskaya, who is now based on Lithuania, TVN24 she found Terlecki's tweet "strange" and that it was "not fair to the Belarusian people."

Borys Budka, who heads the main opposition grouping Civic Platform, said he had hoped for an apology from Terlecki but he had gone on writing "nonsense".

"That is why we are submitting a motion to dismiss him from the post of Deputy Speaker of the Sejm (lower house)," Budka wrote on Twitter.

Russia is Lukashenko's main ally. It has stood by him despite an international outcry over his crackdown on opponents and an incident last month in which Belarus scrambled a warplane to force a jetliner to land in Minsk and arrested a dissident journalist who was on board.

Michał Szczerba, a member of Civic Platform, told Reuters support for a free Belarus should transcend national disputes and Tsikhanouskaya should be able to meet whoever she wants "to call for help for her country."