Belarusian textbooks present the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a foundation of Belarusian statehood and treat much of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s history as shared, while emphasizing tensions over polonization, religion, and political autonomy. Figures including Vytautas, Tadeusz Kościuszko, Adam Mickiewicz, and Konstanty Kalinowski are claimed as part of Belarusian heritage. Accounts of the partitions, the 1812 invasion, uprisings, interwar Polish rule, and the Soviet-era unification of Belarus reflect distinct Belarusian perspectives, sometimes retaining Soviet-era justifications. Following the 2020 protests, new school textbooks have intensified an us-versus-enemies framing and recast the Commonwealth as repressive, particularly in its portrayal of Poland. Historian Aliaksei Lastouski warns that this politicization may deepen hostility and argues that citizen contacts and renewed cooperation with Belarusian historians could counter the trend.

Belarusian doctors are leaving for Poland amid political repression, arrests, professional blacklisting, low pay, and poor working conditions. The experiences of Yuliya Kazachenka and Dzmitry Markelau illustrate the difficult transition: foreign-trained doctors face demanding exams, language requirements, and lengthy routes to full licensure, but can find better pay and supportive workplaces. A Belarusian democratic representative estimates that 30–40% of doctors and nurses have left their professions for various reasons and says many Belarusian medical workers now work in Poland. The article also outlines Poland’s temporary licensing pathway and the dispute over extending it: some officials warn about patient-safety risks, while Sochaczew hospital director Robert Skowronek argues that hiring should be based on professional ability and Polish-language competence.

Belarusian democratic forces in exile have built institutions modeled on a state, including the elected Coordination Council, which is holding a new online election. Candidate Sergey Stalmakov argues that the Council can help Belarusian communities abroad organize and develop democratic experience, although it has little power to enforce decisions. The article outlines the Council’s international engagement and limited practical achievements, alongside criticism of its authority, internal disputes, reliance on grants, and a major scandal involving former chair Anzhalika Mielnikava, who was reportedly linked to a Belarusian intelligence agent and accused in reporting of withdrawing $150,000. The Council’s broader mission, supporters say, is to involve Belarusians in political life and prepare for democratic change.

Former Belarusian paramedic Viktar was sentenced to two years of restricted freedom at home after striking a police officer during a 2022 anti-war protest. After completing his sentence, he faced surveillance, travel restrictions and renewed threats, and tried twice unsuccessfully to leave Belarus. An evacuation service run by the BYSOL foundation helps people at risk, though Viktar ultimately secured a Polish visa through the Kalinowski Program and crossed the border after his name unexpectedly disappeared from the travel-ban database. He is now studying Polish and preparing for food-technology studies related to brewing. The account describes the repression and psychological strain experienced by former political prisoners, as well as the practical risks and support involved in fleeing Belarus.

Andrzej Poczobut, a Polish-Belarusian journalist and activist, spent more than five years imprisoned in Belarus before being released in an exchange on April 28, 2026. The article traces his persecution to the Belarusian authorities' long-running pressure on the Union of Poles in Belarus and their campaign against Polish history and identity. Poczobut was sentenced to eight years in a penal colony on charges tied to his journalism and historical writing, endured harsh prison conditions, and refused to seek pardon or accept release on terms requiring deportation. His eventual freedom followed negotiations between Poland and Belarus and broader talks led by US envoy John Coale; Poland handed over people accused of spying for Russia and Belarus, among others.

The Belarusian People’s Republic emerged amid the upheaval of 1917–1918, after Bolsheviks dispersed the All-Belarusian Congress in Minsk. Its leaders declared independence in March 1918, but German occupation, successive military advances, limited resources, lack of an army or broad international recognition, and divisions among pro-Polish, pro-Lithuanian, and pro-Soviet factions prevented it from establishing effective statehood. The movement also faced a weakly developed national consciousness, the displacement of much of the Belarusian population during the war, and competing claims over border regions. The republic remained an unrealized state-building project, while its council continued in exile and is described as the world’s oldest still-active government in exile.

Belarusian state propaganda has portrayed Poland as a threat seeking to seize western Belarus and parts of Ukraine, while depicting Poland as impoverished, subservient to the West, and abusive toward migrants and Belarusian exiles. These themes, which intensified after Belarus’s 2020 protests and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, draw on social media, state television, historical revisionism, and figures such as former Polish judge Tomasz Szmydt. The article traces the deterioration of Polish-Belarusian relations and describes how the Belarusian regime has targeted Polish institutions, activists, and historical memory. Available surveys suggest that propaganda has influenced some older Belarusians, but most respondents have viewed Poland and its people favorably; personal contact and travel appear to help counter hostile messaging.

Belarusian athletes and sports professionals who left after the 2020 protests and subsequent repression are rebuilding their careers in Poland, often while facing financial hardship, immigration hurdles and delays in changing sporting nationality. Some have returned to elite competition: Maria Żodzik won a world silver medal for Poland, while archer Karina Kozłowska and equestrian Olga Safronova have also achieved success. Others now coach or run clubs, contributing skills and experience to Polish sport, though they encounter workplace conflicts, limited resources and eligibility restrictions. The article contrasts Poland’s club-based, relatively flexible system with Belarus’s state-controlled sports structure, and describes how repression and international competition bans have damaged Belarusian sport and driven athletes to seek opportunities abroad.

Belarusian state propaganda has increasingly portrayed the Polish Home Army as equivalent to Nazi forces, using contested wartime episodes and postwar violence to frame Poland and the West as historic enemies of Belarus. The article acknowledges that Home Army units committed abuses and that civilians suffered amid conflicts involving Polish, Soviet, and other forces, but argues that equating the Home Army with systematic Nazi crimes is an ideological distortion. It traces how the Belarusian government connected its investigation into the wartime genocide of Belarusians with the 2020 protests, promoted the narrative through media and schools, and used it to justify anti-Polish policy. The campaign has included the destruction of Home Army memorial sites and the prosecution of Polish activists and journalist Andrzej Poczobut, who received an eight-year prison sentence. The article concludes that the historical narrative serves to legitimize Lukashenko’s government and portray contemporary Poland and Europe as threats.