EU recall all ambassadors in Belarus

European Union governments have decided to recall all their ambassadors in Belarus, in a joint protest against Minsk's recalling of its own diplomatic envoys to Brussels and Warsaw, EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton said Tuesday.

In addition, 'all EU member states will also summon Belarusian ambassadors to their foreign ministries,' Ashton said in a statement.

Statement by High Representative Catherine Ashton:

"Following today's request by the Belarusian authorities that the Head of the EU Delegation in Minsk and the Ambassador of Poland to Belarus leave the country, I have decided, in coordination with Foreign Minister Sikorski, that we will recall for consultations our two ambassadors.

At the same time, I have called a meeting of Member States Ambassadors (PSC) in Brussels today to coordinate our response. In an expression of solidarity and unity, it was agreed that the ambassadors of the EU Member States in Minsk will all be withdrawn for consultations to their capitals. All EU Member States will also summon Belarusian ambassadors to their foreign ministries.

We will continue to follow the situation closely."