Lukashenka closes Embassy in Stockholm

Belarus withdraws its embassy in Sweden and all its employees. As the reason for withdrawal of diplomatic mission the Foreign Ministry was called the expulsion of two Belarusian diplomats from Sweden. Recall, this happened after the decision of the Belarusian side about the non-renewal of accreditation of the ambassador of Sweden to Belarus Stefan Eriksson.

"Motives for the decision of the Belarusian side about the non-renewal of accreditation of the former Ambassador of Sweden to Belarus Stefan Eiriksson are clear and need no additional comments. Given the simultaneous withdrawal to Minsk of the ambassador of Belarus to Sweden Andrei Hrynkevich, Belarusian side believed that the conflict was settled and was ready for joint efforts to return bilateral relations in a constructive direction. In favor of this speak previously undertaken efforts of the Belarusian side to avoid transformation of the situation into a conflict one", - is said in the statement of the Foreign Ministry.

"Swedish Foreign Ministry chose to aggravate the conflict and made a decision about expulsion of two senior diplomats of the embassy of Belarus from the country, including the Chargé d'affaires, and refusal of entry of the new Ambassador of Belarus to Sweden, who has the and agreement of the government of Sweden", - is noted in the statement.

"These actions of the Swedish side are aimed at a serious limitation of Mission of the Republic of Belarus in Sweden, capabilities of full protection of the interests of Belarusian citizens, and provision of services to the citizens of Sweden as well as Norway and Denmark, where the Embassy is accredited in combination.

In these circumstances it is impossible to ensure normal functions of the foreign institution, including those under the Art. 3 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

In this connection, the Belarusian side is forced to decide to withdraw its embassy in Sweden and return all employees to the Republic of Belarus. Appropriate actions are being taken"- is said in the statement. Sweden was also proposed to withdraw its embassy in Belarus before 30 August 2012.

Foreign Ministry emphasized that in the context of these measures the talk is not about the severance of diplomatic relations.

As the website charter97.org reported, on 3 August it became known that the Swedish ambassador was expelled from Minsk. This Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said in his twitter.

At the same day the Belarusian state television channels have shown slanderous reports about activities of the Swedish ambassador. Stefan Eriksson was accused of all mortal sins. "Tried to inflict maximum damage to our country", "attempted to embroil our countries", "conducted subversive activities on the territory of our country", - this is how state propagandists spoke out about the diplomat.