WARSAW PRIDE LOBBIES FOR FREE VISAS

The organisers behind Warsaw Pride are lobbying to secure free visas for LGBT people from Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine.

The 10th annual “Equality Parade” is set to take place on June 11, but many from neighbouring Eastern European states cannot afford the expensive visas required to enter Poland.

“Our main goal is to facilitate the entry of parade participants into Poland. Schengen visas now costs 60 Euros and not everybody can afford this,” said Vyacheslav Bortnik, a member of the Parade’s organising committee.

The organisers said that they have written to Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs requesting the provision of free visas to parade participants and received a sympathetic response.

They were urged to write directly to the individual Polish consulates in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine and are now awaiting a response to their request.

Last year, Warsaw hosted the EuroPride march which was attended by several thousand people and saw counter-protestors hurling eggs and abuse at participants.