Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said that the ambassadors of European countries accredited in Belarus will be recalled for consultations. Zbigniew Rau wrote about this on Twitter. Rau did not specify which diplomatic missions he meant.
“In agreement with the European External Action Service and the EU member states, we decided to withdraw some of the ambassadors accredited in the Republic of Belarus for consultations,” Rau wrote on Twitter and thanked the European Union for solidarity with Poland and Lithuania.
The Polish Foreign Minister said that “the priority remains to support the Belarusians and their aspirations to democratize the country.”
According to unofficial information published by TUT.BY, the ambassadors of Poland and Lithuania have already left Minsk, the German ambassador is also to leave for his homeland today.
On October 2, Minsk recalled its ambassadors in Poland and Lithuania for consultations and suggested that the ambassadors of these countries do the same. In addition, the authorities of Poland and Lithuania “have been asked to bring the composition of their diplomatic missions in Belarus to parity with the Belarusian foreign missions in the respective countries by October 9, 2020.”
The Belarusian side insists that Lithuania reduce the number of diplomats in Belarus from 25 to 14, and Poland — from 50 to 18. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry calls the policy of Warsaw and Vilnius “destructive in the current situation.”
Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius stated that Lithuania does not intend to recall its ambassador to Belarus for consultations or to reduce the number of the embassy staff. He also said that Lithuania has coordinated its actions with Poland. However, on October 3, the press secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Anatol Hlaz said that the proposals voiced the day before were binding.
