Three Polish Diplomats Expelled From Belarus: Recent Details

The Lukashists handed a "note" to Poland's Chargé d'Affaires Krzysztof Ożanna.

Communications Officer of the Polish Border Service Marek Gerasimiuk will leave Belarus by Wednesday evening. It is likely that two employees of the Polish Consulate in Hrodna will also be expelled, according to Łukasz Jasina, spokesman for the Polish Foreign Ministry, PAP reported.

He added that the Belarusian side informed the Polish MFA about this at the end of last week. At the same time, the Polish Consulate in Hrodna will continue its work, the representative of the Polish Foreign Ministry assured.

We are talking about the decision of the Belarusian authorities, which was announced to the Charge d'Affaires of Poland in Belarus Krzysztof Ożanna on February 17. Later they announced changes in the rules of crossing the border for Polish cargo carriers, expelling a Communications Officer of the Border Service and bringing the staff of the Consulate General of Poland in Hrodna to parity with the number of employees of the Consulate General of Belarus in Białystok.

The aggravation of relations between the countries began after the announcement of the verdict against the activist of the Polish minority and well-known journalist Andrzej Poczobut: he was sentenced to eight years in a high-security colony on February 8. As Charter97.org reported, Poland has suspended the operation of the Bobrowniki border crossing since February 10, in response to repressions against the Polish minority in Belarus. Also, the movement of Belarusian trucks through the Kukuryki-Kozlovichi border crossing has been restricted in response to the new unfriendly steps of official Minsk since February 21.