28/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Commission says that is “deeply worried” by the situation affecting the Polish minority in Belarus. Poles have become the target of hostile arrests ordered by president Lukaschenko. Belarus special forces raided a building at dawn on Thursday which was being used by a Polish association in Grodno, near the Polish border. Around 18 people, including several journalists were arrested but all of them were released later. A Commission spokesperson declared on Thursday that they were launching an appeal to the Belarus authorities “to fully respect the democratic principles of the OSCE, including the protection of minorities”. The spokesperson explained that the EU was “very interested” in seeing Belarus, a neighbouring country to the enlarged EU become “stable and democratic”. Around 400,000 Poles live in Belarus.