Lithuanian Ministry for Belarusian Affairs
The Ministry for Belarusian Affairs was an interwar Lithuanian government portfolio.
This ministry was established as a result of bargaining between the Belarusian and Jewish community leaders and the Lithuanian government to gain the support of the latter in the peace conferences negotiations over the boundaries of the new Lithuanian State. For the same reason, there was a Ministry for Jewish Affairs. The incumbent was initially a member of the Vilnius Belarusian Rada. On November 11, 1920, the Belarusian Democratic Republic's government-in-exile signed a partnership treaty with the Republic of Lithuania to cooperate in the liberation of Belarusian and Lithuanian lands from Polish occupation. The Council of government of the Belarusian Republic then relocated to Kaunas. The Ministry for Belarusian Affairs was suppressed in 1924, like its Jewish counterpart.[1]
List of incumbents[1]
- Juozapas Voronko (b. April 4, 1891 in Białystok, d. January 1, 1952, in Chicago) from November 11, 1918, till June 15, 1920
- Dominik Semashko from June 19, 1920, till February 22, 1923
- Ernestas Galvanauskas (at the same time also Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs) from February 22, 1923, till June 17, 1924
