Poland
During the day thousands of Belarusians have protested peacefully. Workers all across the country have gone on general strike including hospital, metro and factory workers.
Videos have surfaced that show police convoys apparently leaving the area around the independence square in Minsk. Lukashenko has appeared on television claiming that outside forces from Poland, Netherlands, Ukraine, and Russia have infiltrated the country in order to spark protests and destabilize it. He ordered all people to stay in their homes and not go outside.
Amnesty International's director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Marie Struthers has stated that "former detainees told us that detention centres have become torture chambers, where protesters are forced to lie in the dirt while police kick and beat them with truncheons".
Multiple people including a Polish journalist have come forward to support the claims of torture. Witold Dobrowolski has stated on Twitter that he has been "kidnapped, tortured and sent to gulag" but is "now free and safe with members of polish diplomacy".
The Police police have arrested three people that they suspect of having placed pride flags on multiple statues around Warsaw.
All suspects have been charged with the offending of religious feelings and desecration of monuments. If the prosecutors decide to bring the case to a court, the suspects could face a fine of up to two years in prison if they get convicted for offending of religious feelings.
The flags had been placed on statues of the astronomer Copernicus, the Warsaw mermaid and Jesus Christ.
The justice minister of Poland, Zbigniew Ziobro, has announced that his country will leave the Istanbul Convention - a treaty that aims to prevent violence against women.
He claims that it "contains elements of an ideological nature" as it requires all signed countries to teach children about gender.
Women across the country have protested on thousands.
In what is expected to be one of the last sentences as survivors and perpetrators of the holocaust are now of an old age, a German former Nazi SS guard has been found guilty. The court ruled that the now 93-year-old man is guilty of complicity in the murder of over 5,000 prisoners of the Stutthof Camp located in the part of Poland that was occupied by Nazi Germany during that time.
The two year prison sentence has been suspended and the man has been tried in a juvenile court as he was 17 during that time. He had been guarding the concentration camp between August 1944 and April 1945.
The Dutch city Nieuwegein has announced that the Municipal Council has voted to immediately stop the partnership with the Polish city of Pulawy over a report that Pulawy is now part of the "LGBT ideology-free" zone in Poland.
The council of Nieuwegein has previously sent a letter to Pulawy in which it expressed their concerns and now canceled the partnership. Alderman Marieke Schouten had previously stated that "In Nieuwegein everyone can be who he or she is, regardless of his or her sexual orientation, gender, religion or ethnic origin. LGBT-free zones such as in Pulawy are really unacceptable in our view".
Polish President Andrzej Duda has won five more years in power on a socially conservative, religious platform in a closely fought election.
Duda won 51.21% of the vote with Opposition candidate Rafal Trzaskowski receiving 48.79%, Poland's National Electoral Commission said Monday.
Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda said he plans to propose a constitutional amendment to explicitly forbid the adoption of children by same-sex couples. Duda stated he would draft the bill on Monday, and submit it to parliament.
Duda is running for re-election and During a campaign event in the southern town of Szczawno-Zdrój he said: "In Poland’s constitution, it should be explicitly stated that anyone in a same-sex relationship is forbidden from adopting a child,".
According to the exit polls first round of Presidential Election did not result in any of candidates reaching the threshold of over 50% votes required for securing the win.
The exit poll taken by Ipsos shows that following two candidates got majority of votes - Andrzej Duda (41,8%) and Rafał Trzaskowski (30,4%). They will take part in the second round of the Election that will take place in 2 weeks, on 12th of July.
The Polish President Andrzej Duda has visited the president of the United States. The Polish politician had been tested for Covid-19 previous to the meeting with Trump. One possible motive for the visit, as other country leaders are staying home during the pandemic, could've been the hope for a boost for the upcoming elections as the polish president faces re-election in four days.
In May Polish soldiers crossed the border to the Czech Republic and set up camp in the foreign country. The soldiers then turned away Czech citizens who wanted to visit a church. The Czech Foreign Ministry has stated that Poland claims that the situation was "merely a misunderstanding" with the soldiers originally being ordered to guard parts of the closed border between Poland and the Czech Republic due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The "Polish soldiers are no longer present" but the Czech Republic still awaits a formal statement from Poland on the situation.
After postponing the presidential elections due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Poland will now vote on June 28. The election was originally planned for May 10th and called of just four days before taking place.
The Law and Justice Party said Thursday that July 12 is under consideration as a new date for Poland's presidential election. The election was scheduled to take place this Sunday, May 10.
President Andrzej Duda current 5-year term expires on August 6, but he is leading opinion polls, well ahead of nine other candidates.