Poland recognized Belarus’s independence on 27 December 1991. The ceremony to mark the establishment of diplomatic relations was held on 2 March 1992. The legal basis for bilateral relations is provided by the Treaty on Good-Neighbourly Relations and Friendly Cooperation of 23 June 1992.
Belarus is an important partner for Poland because of its proximity and common history. For this reason, Poland continues to undertake a number of initiatives – including those co-directed by the EU – to foster Belarusian cooperation with regional and EU countries. These initiatives include the Eastern Partnership and the European Dialogue on Modernization in Belarus.
However, bilateral relations between Poland and Belarus have recently been strained due to human rights violations and the harassment of oppositionists and civil society activists. They deteriorated after the December 2010 presidential elections, when Alexander Lukashenko ordered mass detentions and persecution of his presidential contenders, civil society representatives and opposition activists protesting against the election results. Since then, the human rights situation in Belarus has not improved. Belarus ranks 26th among Poland’s trading partners and 3rd in the CIS area. Poland is Belarus’s 7th largest trading partner and 4th in the EU. Polish-Belarusian economic cooperation is characterized by a high participation rate of small and medium-sized enterprises.
According to the national census, around 255,000 Poles and people of Polish descent live in Belarus. Poland has an Embassy (including a Consular Section) and a Polish Institute in Minsk and two Consulates General in Brest and Grodno