Andrzej Poczobut to address European Parliament

Jour­nal­ist, Pol­ish minor­i­ty activist in Belarus, and for­mer polit­i­cal pris­on­er Andrzej Poc­zobut will address the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment at a ple­nary ses­sion in June. This was announced on May 18 by EP Pres­i­dent Rober­ta Met­so­la when open­ing the ple­nary ses­sion.

Pho­to: Andrzej Poc­zobut / Face­book

The Euro­pean Par­lia­ment web­site states that Rober­ta Met­so­la once again wel­comed Poczobut’s release from prison. She men­tioned that the Belaru­sian for­mer polit­i­cal pris­on­er is a lau­re­ate of the Sakharov Prize for Free­dom of Thought, award­ed by the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment. He was award­ed this prize in 2025. In addi­tion, the EP Pres­i­dent “remem­bered the many polit­i­cal pris­on­ers around the world who remain unfair­ly impris­oned.”

“This Par­lia­ment will con­tin­ue to speak out for them and for all those who stand up for free­dom in the face of oppres­sion,” Met­so­la said.

The June Euro­pean Par­lia­ment ses­sion is sched­uled for June 15–18, 2026. Accord­ing to infor­ma­tion from Pol­ish news agency PAP, Poczobut’s speech may take place on June 17.

As Pol­skie Radio reports, MEP Andrzej Hal­ic­ki deliv­ered a let­ter signed by Rober­ta Met­so­la to Andrzej Poc­zobut with an invi­ta­tion to the June ses­sion in Stras­bourg.

Andrzej Hal­ic­ki added that the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment has repeat­ed­ly called for Poczobut’s release in its res­o­lu­tions and that it is an insti­tu­tion that con­tributed to his release.

The MEP announced that Poc­zobut will be received in Stras­bourg with hon­or. This is con­firmed by the fact that Wednes­day in the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment is reserved for spe­cial guests and key debates, and June 17 falls on a Wednes­day.

“He will be received the same way as heads of state and prime min­is­ters,” the MEP said.

Andrzej Poc­zobut was released on April 28 as part of a “five for five” pris­on­er exchange. This was facil­i­tat­ed by nego­ti­a­tions between the Belaru­sian regime and U.S. Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump’s team. Imme­di­ate­ly after his release, Poc­zobut announced his inten­tion to return to Belarus. Recent­ly on Pol­skie Radio, he not­ed that he intends to do so before the Union of Poles con­gress, which is planned for autumn.