English

EU may kick out Belarusian ambassadors, MP warns

The European Union may move to expel all of the ambassadors of Belarus to its member states amid an ongoing diplomatic war between the 27-nation bloc and Minsk, Emanuelis Zingeris, chairman of the Lithuanian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said in an interview with Belsat TV.

According to the politician, in response to new EU sanctions imposed last week, Minsk decided not to invite the EU ambassadors, who had been withdrawn from the Belarusian capital at the beginning of the row, back to the country. "These measures by Belarus may lead to retaliatory measures on the part of the EU. A decision on these measures has not yet been made, but I would not like that to end in a decision to kick out all of the Belarusian ambassadors from EU countries," he said.

Mr. Zingeris suggested that the parties should make decisions leading to the return of the EU ambassadors to Minsk, BelaPAN said.

On March 23, the EU foreign ministers added 12 persons to the bloc's list of Belarusian individuals targeted by a travel ban and asset freeze. They include individuals benefiting from or supporting Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime, as well as persons responsible for the repression of civil society and the democratic opposition in Belarus.

In addition, the EU Council froze the assets of 29 entities, which are controlled by persons subject to restrictive measures due to their role in supporting the regime.

The EU's blacklist now includes 243 individuals and 32 entities.

After the EU imposed travel bans and asset freezes on new Belarusians on February 27, the Belarusian foreign ministry "recommended” that the head of the EU delegation to Belarus and the ambassador of Poland to Belarus return to their capitals for consultations, while simultaneously recalling the country's permanent representative in Brussels and ambassador in Warsaw.

All EU ambassadors have left Belarus since "in expression of solidarity and unity."

Speaking one day after the blacklist was extended on March 23, a spokesperson for the Belarusian foreign ministry said that the EU ambassadors' return to Minsk would be "premature."