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EU foreign policy chief criticizes Swedish ambassador’s expulsion from Minsk

Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said on Friday that she had received the news of the expulsion of Swedish Ambassador Stefan Eriksson from Belarus “with grave concern.”

“This decision runs counter to norms of relations between states,” the EU official said.

According to Ms. Ashton, the EU and Sweden are “committed to the modernization of Belarus and to the spread of European values, in particular democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”

Ms. Ashton warned that the matter would be discussed “in the Political and Security Committee in Brussels, including with regard to appropriate EU measures.”

Andrey Savinykh, spokesman for the Belarusian foreign ministry, said on Friday that Mr. Eriksson had been denied an extension of his accreditation and not expelled. "He has worked in Belarus for about seven years, which is a long period," Mr. Savinykh said. "However, all his activities have been aimed at destroying Belarusian-Swedish relations and not developing them."

Sweden has denounced Minsk’s decision. //BelaPAN