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Belarusian authorities’ pressure on US embassy further isolates Belarus from Europe, USA, State Department official says

A representative of the US Department of State said that the Belarusian authorities’ “unwarranted” pressure on the US embassy “is having the effect of further isolating Belarus from Europe and the US.”

In an interview with BelaPAN, David Merkel, deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs at the US Department of State, said that the Belarusian government’s move to order repeated staff cuts at the US embassy had an impact on bilateral relations in different spheres.

In particular, he said, the Belarusian authorities are closing “American corners” at the country’s libraries that did “a lot with the youth on issues that no one can find to be provocative.”

Mr. Merkel noted that the European Union also backed pressure on the Belarusian authorities over the country’s poor human rights record, referring to the 27-nation bloc’s move to extend its visa ban and asset freeze targeting Belarus’ top government officials.

He said that the United States and the European Union would “continue to try and use these tools” to pile pressure on the Belarusian authorities to release political prisoners and respect human rights.

Mr. Merkel noted that the Belarusian authorities had decided to order the second staff cut at the US embassy because “we continued to stand up in an uncompromising way in support of human rights and we have criticized the regime for not providing for their population basic freedoms.”