After several denials, it has been officially confirmed: last August 21 a meeting was held between Yuri Karaev, Belarusian Interior Minister, and the head of the country’s Catholics, Metropolitan Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz. The meeting had been requested by the archbishop to assess the prospects for a peaceful resolution to the conflict between the president and the opposition.
Archbishop Kondrusiewicz reminded the minister of the unsustainability of violent repression, implemented by the local militia, denouncing at the same time the presence of no less violent provocateurs in various demonstrations. He also proposed the formation of a mixed commission, which would carry out checks on the conditions of arrest and detention of people. The state-owned television channel ONT said the parties reached an agreement on the formation of such a commission.
On the official website of the Belarusian Catholic Church it is specified that Kondrusiewicz has placed the emphasis mainly on the protection of “the weakest and the defenceless.”