A diplomat from the Polish Consulate General in Brest has been told to leave Belarus after taking part in an event to honour Poland’s post-World War II anticommunist resistance fighters, Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz said on Tuesday.
He told public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency that the decision to expel the diplomat, Jerzy Timofiejuk, was "not in the interest of the Belarusian state."
"Poland strongly supports an independent and sovereign Belarus; however, the authorities of that country, through their recent decisions, have excluded themselves from a path of dialogue and cooperation," Przydacz said.
"We appeal to the authorities in Minsk to engage in dialogue with its people, free political prisoners and restore basic civil liberties," he added.
Przydacz also told reporters that the decision to expel Timofiejuk placed an added "burden on the difficult relations between the two countries."
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Source: IAR