The 'Pole's Card', confirming Polish origin and intended to strengthen ties with the homeland, grants many privileges. Its holder has the right to obtain a long-term multiple-entry Polish visa for free. In Poland, he will be able to work legally and establish a company, receive education, use medical care and discounts on railway travel, visit state museums for free, and even count on financial assistance from the state budget and local government funds. According to preliminary estimates, up to $30 million will be allocated annually for these purposes.
Those wishing to possess the coveted card are already storming Polish consulates. To obtain it, one must first prove Polish roots - with a birth certificate of mother, father, grandfather or grandmother confirming Polish origin. Then one must pass the 'exam for a Pole' - in a conversation with the consul, demonstrate at least passive knowledge of the Polish language and answer questions concerning Polish history, geography and literature, as well as the traditions and customs of the ancestral homeland. Lists of 150 questions have already been delivered to all consulates in sealed envelopes. In addition, the moral aspect will be taken into account: it is necessary that the applicant's ancestors did not act to the detriment of Poland in the past.
The Polish Foreign Ministry assumes that potential card holders could be over a million. But the initiative was met ambivalently locally. The authorities of Belarus, where 400 thousand ethnic Poles live, believe that the 'Pole's Card' gives advantages only to one group of society. Belarusian state media warn against 'Polish separatism'. The chairman of the parliamentary commission on international affairs and national security, Nikolai Cherginets, called the introduction of the card 'a hostile act by Poland towards Belarus' and an attempt to create a 'fifth column'.
The Polish Foreign Ministry dismisses such accusations. 'We resolutely reject the political context in strengthening ties with compatriots whose ancestors were forced to leave their homeland for various reasons,' Wojciech Tychiński, deputy director of the consular department of the Polish foreign ministry, told Vremya Novostey. According to him, 'it is about preserving language and culture, providing for the first time in decades the opportunity to visit the ancestral homeland and establish family contacts.' 'There is not even a hint of autonomy for the Polish minority in any country in our project, which is what they mistakenly fear in Belarus,' Wojciech Tychiński noted.
'Of course, it is much easier to establish contact with compatriots in Ukraine or Belarus than in Kazakhstan or Russia,' he notes. 'We know that about 70 thousand people declare Polish nationality in Russia, most of whom live far beyond the Urals, in the Irkutsk region. But we have set the task to reach everyone. We hope that we will continue the dialogue with Belarusian partners and dispel all doubts.'