BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

July 27, 2005

Belarus to expel another Polish diplomat

Belarus' Foreign Ministry has made a decision to expel an adviser for the Polish Embassy, the latest in a series of tit-for-tat expulsions since Minsk accused Warsaw of plotting an uprising against President Alexander Lukashenko, the Itar-Tass news agency reported on Tuesday.

"The decision was made in response to the Polish Foreign Ministry's notification stating that Belarussian diplomat Nikolai Petrovich has to leave Poland within 10 days," Itar-Tass quoted Maria Vanshina, spokeswoman for the Belarussian Foreign Ministry, as saying.

Adrzej Olborski, an adviser at the Polish Embassy in Belarus, is the third Polish official who is to be driven out by Belarus from the country in 10 days.

"All the decisions on early termination of the mission of the three Polish diplomats -- Marek Butko, Adrzej Buczak and Adzrej Olborski-- were made by Minsk in response to the expulsion by Poland of three Belarussian diplomats," said the spokeswoman.

She noted the actions taken by Belarus are "absolutely justified" and "conform with international diplomatic practice."

Relations between the two neighbors hit a low after Lukashenko accused Warsaw of trying to plot an uprising against him using Belarus's Polish minority.

The Belarussian authorities have repeatedly criticized Polish diplomats' interference in the activities of a public association of ethnic Poles in Belarus, the Union of Poles.

In May, relations between the two countries sharply worsened after Belarus' Justice Ministry annulled the results of the 6th congress of this association.

Source:

http://english.people.com.cn/200507/27/eng20050727_198434.html