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“After the inauguration, on September 23, I requested my dismissal by agreement of the parties … I did not receive any reaction. Now I have withdrawn that statement and I have submitted a new one on October 27, “the ambassador told the tut.by portal on Wednesday.
On September 23, Aliaksandr Lukashenko was inaugurated, which was kept secret until the last moment. Through him, Lukashenko, declared the winner of the presidential elections on August 9, was sworn in for the sixth term. This has exacerbated the political crisis in Belarus.
According to V. Astapenka, he wrote a new statement demanding his dismissal on the basis of another article of the Labor Code – “for violations of the employer’s laws, which hinder the performance of my work under an employment contract”.
“The lack of international legitimacy of the head of state does not allow me, as a diplomat and as a patriot of my country, to continue serving honestly as an ambassador, being a subordinate who has no right to express the will of the Belarusian people,” Astapenka said.
For the third month in a row, there have been massive protests in Belarus over the presidential elections, which the opposition and Western democracies consider rigged.
The protesters are demanding the resignation of Lukashenko, the release of political prisoners and new elections.
In mid-September, Mr. Lukashenko retired the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Coordinating Council of the Opposition of the Coordinating Council of the Opposition and the resigning Ambassador to Slovakia, Ihari Liaščenija, and dismissed the Ambassador to Latvia, Vasilis Markovičius.
The abolition of the diplomatic rank of P. Latuška and I. Liaščenia is reported to be “related to actions that degrade the (diplomatic) state service”.
V. Markovičius was removed from the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Latvia “for improper performance of official duties”. His diplomatic rank has also been revoked.
From 2012 to 2019, Latuška was Ambassador to France. He later directed the Janka Kupala National Academic Theater, but was fired after condemning the treatment of protesters by members of the power structures and calling for a legal evaluation of his actions. After Mr. Latask became a member of the Coordination Council, Mr. Lukashenko declared that he had “crossed the red line” and that he would “respond according to the law”.
Former Belarusian Ambassador to Slovakia Liaščenia also expressed his support for the peaceful protests of Belarusian citizens after the elections and called on the authorities to investigate all cases of torture and beatings of protesters. Then he fulfilled his resignation. At the end of August, Lukashenko signed a dismissal order for Liaščenia.
Latuška said in September that dozens of Foreign Ministry officials who did not support the government’s actions after the August 9 elections could be fired.
“There is some ‘cleanliness’ in the MFA system. Layoffs are approaching for dozens of diplomats and ministerial personnel of various ranks, including ambassadors, advisers, second and third secretaries of diplomatic missions and embassies, the only system (staff) that speaks Rare foreign languages. Several people have already been laid off; they either terminated their employment contracts or did not renew those that had expired, “said Fr Latuška on Friday.
According to him, the reason for the dismissals is the disapproval of diplomats of the government’s actions during and after the presidential elections.
“Some, as chairmen of constituency electoral commissions in foreign institutions, have openly refused to falsify the voting results, while others on social media have condemned the actions of power structures against protesters,” said the opposition .
According to him, the central apparatus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus employs about 200 people.
“It just came to our attention then. The dismissal of dissatisfied diplomats leads to the collapse of the foreign policy service,” said P. Latuška.
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