Carl Bildt: Lukashenka's fear reaching new heights

The Foreign Minister of Sweden reacted to closing the Belarusian embassy in Stockholm.

“Lukashenko is now throwing all Swedish diplomats out of Belarus. His fear of human rights reaching new heights,” Carl Bildt posted on his Twitter account.

We remind the information appeared today that Belarus withdraws its embassy staff from Sweden. The Belarusian MFA says the reason for this step was the expulsion of two Belarusian diplomats from Sweden. It happened after Belarus did not renew accreditation for Swedish Ambassador to Minsk Stefan Eriksson.

The diplomatic row continues the story of the Swedish teddy bear drop.

As charetr97.org already reported, a light Swedish aircraft overflew the Belarusian border on July 4. Teddy bears with pro-democracy labels were dropped from the plane over the town of Ivyanets and on the outskirts of Minsk. The Belarusian authorities refused to admit the fact of flight until July 26 saying “the investigation was under way”. Photographer Anton Surapin, who published photos of teddy bears found near Ivyanets on the internet, and estate agent Syarhei Basharymau, who rented an apartment to the Swedes, were detained.

Both may face up to seven years in prison.

Lukashenka dismissed head of the State Border Committee Major General Ihar Rachkouski and commander of the Air and Air Defence Forces Major General Dzmitry Pakhmelkin.