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Taking into account the statement of Belarus on Friday evening the ambassador to Lithuania and Poland, Linas Linkevičius says that such actions by Belarus only worsen its own situation, but the position of Lithuania does not change.
“Lithuania decides on the ambassador. We do not intend to invite them for consultations and we will not decide anything about reducing their number,” L. Linkevičius said at the press conference.
The Ambassador received the same threat from Belarus to cancel the consultations. L. Linkevičius states that he communicates closely with Poland and that the position of both countries is the same.
“We are coordinating with Poland, Europe. This is an attack on Lithuania and Poland, we will wait for the next steps. In their last steps, they cross the branch they sit on,” says the Foreign Minister.
According to Minister L. Linkevičius, similar actions could be expected from Lithuania.
“Threats were heard. We did not insult the Belarusian people as they present it. The termination of diplomatic relations was mentioned, but we do not think it is rational,” says L. Linkevičius.
L. Linkevičius says that he is a bit disappointed and disappointed with such a statement from Belarus. According to the Foreign Minister, such behavior by Belarus undermines diplomatic relations between the countries.
“The ambassador’s invitation to consult is a deterioration of diplomatic relations. The wish is to undermine the relationship on an even larger scale. So far, they are complicating their situation and it shows no way out of the deadlock,” says L. Linkevičius.
Belarus remembers Lithuanian ambassador
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry recalls its Lithuanian and Polish ambassadors for consultations, and also called on these countries to reduce the number of diplomats in their embassies in Minsk.
“The ambassadors in Belarus and Lithuania will be called to Minsk for consultations from October 5. Consequently, the ambassadors of Poland and Lithuania in Belarus were offered to follow this example,” said Anatoly Hlaz, representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. from Belarus.
Hlaz said Lithuanian and Polish diplomatic envoys summoned to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry were also urged to reduce the number of diplomats on their missions.
“Due to the apparently destructive activities of the aforementioned countries, they were offered to achieve parity in the composition of their diplomatic missions in Belarus with the foreign missions of Belarus in the respective countries before October 9, 2020,” Hlaz said.
The Belarusian state news agency Belta says that in this case, the number of employees of the Lithuanian embassy in Minsk should decrease from 25 to 14, and the number of Polish diplomats from 50 to 18 diplomats.
After the rigged presidential elections on August 9, Lithuania and Poland took a firm stance against Aliaksandr Lukashenko and expressed their support for Belarusians demanding new elections.
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