BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
28/03/2008
U.S. Embassy to Resume Granting Visas to Belarus Residents
The U.S. Embassy in Minsk plans to resume granting visas to Belarus residents on April 1, Khartia- 97 reported.
The Embassy stopped granting visas March 19 in response to the demand of Belarus Foreign Ministry to reduce its staff. Then, the diplomats said their resources were targeted at tackling other tasks of priority.
The diplomatic conflict of Belarus and the United States aggravated in the wake of the sanctions that Washington imposed on government-controlled Belneftekhim. In March of 2008, the ambassadors of both states went back to the homeland for consulting.
The U.S. Embassy first refused to reduce the personnel. But it yielded after the state TV of Belarus showed a film unmasking agents of the U.S. secret services. According to it, the agents had been recruited by a FSB agent working under the guise of a diplomat.
On March 27, 17 diplomats of the United States (nearly half of the staff) left the capital of Belarus.
Source:
http://www.kommersant.com/p-12261/r_541/U.S._embassy_Belarus/
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