Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus regarding retaliatory measures in response to unfriendly actions by Poland and the Czech Republic

Recently, the authorities of the Republic of Poland and the Czech Republic, on completely far-fetched and unfounded pretexts, requested that Belarusian diplomats with the rank of counsellor leave the territory of their states.

Today, the acting head of the Czech diplomatic mission in Belarus, Tomáš Kryl, has been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus. As a reciprocal measure, he has been informed that the Czech diplomat (counsellor) is declared persona non grata and must leave the territory of Belarus within 72 hours.

We would like to further emphasise that the current situation has been caused by the Czech authorities' years of cultivating a biased attitude towards Belarus.  

We are compelled to respond in accordance with existing diplomatic practice, including in the context of the restrictions previously imposed on the Belarusian Embassy in the Czech Republic.

Today, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Republic of Poland in the Republic of Belarus, Wojciech Filimonowicz, has also been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where a detailed conversation on the current state of Belarusian-Polish relations has taken place. Details of this conversation will be provided later.

The Belarusian side considers this diplomatic incident to be closed. In the event of further escalation, Belarus will respond appropriately. This position has been communicated to Warsaw and Prague.

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