Belarusian sprinter given Polish visa after refusing to board flight home

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

A Belarusian Olympic athlete who refused to board a flight home from Tokyo after criticizing team officials has been granted a humanitarian visa by Poland.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya entered the Polish Embassy in Tokyo on Monday and is set to fly to Warsaw on Wednesday, Alexander Opeikin of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund, an association that supports athletes who are jailed or prosecuted for political beliefs, wrote on the Telegram messaging service.

“She is OK. She’s a little bit disappointed because she wanted to continue in the Olympic Games,” Opeikin told the New York Times.

Tsimanouskaya “has received a humanitarian visa,” Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz wrote on Twitter, adding that his country “will do whatever is necessary to help her to continue her sporting career.”

Read more: https://www.politico.eu/article/poland-grants-asylum-to-belarusian-sprinter-who-needed-protection-from-harm/

[Renew Deal]

1. Helping her continue her life is the most important thing

But whatever

[Igel]

2. And so now Lukashenko will be even more annoyed.

Maybe even start funneling "undocumented refugees" to the Polish border like with Lithuania. They fly to Belorus'--meaning they have some sort of documentation for the plane--wind up being bussed to the border and pointed in the right direction. Instead of "human shields" he's managed to pick up on Turkey's "human weapons."

The random beatings and persecution of ethnic Poles left Belorus in former Polish territory in 2005 obviously weren't enough to bully the Polish government.

[samsingh]

3. Excellent news.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

4. I hope none of her flights goes through Belorussian airspace.

Or Russian.

[kairos12]

5. Be careful what countries she flies over.

[COL Mustard]

6. I Would Have Thought She Would Want To Be Further Away

Like maybe in the US. Poland is too close to Belarus IMHO.