Elzbieta Szumanska 
Minority Rights in a contemporary dictatorship 
The case of the Polish minority in Belarus

Master’s Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject Politics – Region: Eastern Europe, grade: 1, 5, European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), language: English, abstract: The master thesis is related to significant problems in contemporary Europe – not only from the perspective of Polish people living in Belarus but also from the international
perspective.
Belarus is arguably the least democratic country in Europe. As such it has posed problems for the EU and other European and Western institutions, especially on the field of minority protection. Minorities are among the most contested issues
in political life because they speak to an inherent tension in human affairs between competing desires for freedom and belonging. The diversity, aimed by the Western political actors, simply contradicts the principle that legitimates a political community in an authoritarian state. In the case of the Belarusian
dictatorship it leads to enhanced conformity resulting in minority discrimination. The paper presents different kinds of the external influence in order to assess the most effective one(s) when defending minority rights in a dictatorship.
The 1st chapter the Author presents the ways of understanding and
considering the problems of minorities, minority rights, their protection as well as the relationship between minorities and dictatorship. The Author is highlighting research methods too.
In the 2nd chapter Ms. Szumanska concentrates on presenting the origins of dictatorship in Belarus and on how Polish minority
functions there. The Author tries to examine the situation of Poles in the contemporary Belarus. The 3rd chapter gives a good overview of regulations (internal, bilateral and international standards) related to the treatment of minorities in Belarus.
She states that practices of Belarusian authorities towards Polish minority in Belarus is incompatible with democratic standards.
The 4th chapter is an attempt to present and analyze the
impact of Western countries and international organizations on Belarusian authorities. Ms. Szumanska uses the following examples of foreign actors: USA, OSCE, EU, UUN, Russia and
Poland. Ms. Szumanska has also mentioned the influence of NGO’s in Belarus and has examined some aspects of discrimination of the Polish minority (press, Catholic practices, education, labour
market..etc.). In the last chapter “Conclusions” the Author tries to refer to aims posed in introduction, to answer the research questions and to find out why all this is taking place.