Ukrainians, Russians and Belarusians who want to take part in the Warsaw gay pride march this June will be allowed to enter Poland without paying the obligatory visa fee.

Poland's Foreign Ministry has already told the organisers of the event that such a pledge will be honoured.

The EU Observer writes that the forthcoming march, known as the Equality Parade (Parada Rownosci), follows on from last year's Europride in Warsaw, the first such international event to be hosted in a former Eastern bloc country.

Entrance to the Schengen zone would normally set a Russian back 35 euros, while Ukrainians and Belarusians would have to stump up 60 euros.

The openess to those wanting to attend the gay pride march is in contrast with a few years ago, when the then president of Poland, the late Lech Kaczynski, banned a similar event in the capital, which led to accusations of official-level homophobia in Poland.

Last year, however, Europride 2010 was hailed by the liberal British daily the Guardian as revealing “the modern face of Poland,” adding that “few outsiders realise how fast the country is changing.”

However, cynics have argued that the visa-waiver is mere window-dressing for Poland's forthcoming presidency of the EU, which begins on 1 July.

Not so, said Konrad Niklewicz, a spokesman for Poland's EU Presidency, in an interview with the EU Observer.

"Minority rights and gender equality are not specific parts of the presidency programme. These are values which the Polish government has always defended, whether there is a presidency or not," he argued.

The Equality Parade is due to take place on 11 June, following on from marches that began in 2001.

Thus far, the event has been banned twice, in 2004 and 2005, and counter-demonstrations typically have to be restrained by police officers. (nh/pg)

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