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Minsk considers returning recalled ambassadors to Brussels, Warsaw

On February 29 all ambassadors of the EU member-countries to Belarus left Minsk

MINSK, April 5 (Itar-Tass) — The Belarusian Foreign Ministry considers a possible return to Brussels and Warsaw of its ambassadors recalled earlier for consultations, ministry spokesman Andrei Savinykh told a briefing on Thursday.

“The issue is being considered,” Savinykh said. Focusing on the situation with the return to Minsk of EU ambassadors who had left the Belarusian capital demonstratively, the spokesman said “the official position of the Foreign Ministry on that issue has already been voiced” and that he had nothing to add.

“However, it is quite possible that the ministry will voice its stance on that issue in the future,” Savinykh added.

The EU Council approved on February 27 new sanctions against Belarus, which sparked a diplomatic row involving the ambassadors of the EU countries in Minsk. In response to the sanctions, the official Minsk recalled the country’s permanent representative to the European Union and the Belarusian ambassador to Poland.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry also offered the head of the EU delegation in Belarus and the Polish ambassador to Belarus to “leave for their capitals for consultations in order to bring to the notice of their leadership a firm stance of the Belarusian side as to inadmissibility of pressure and sanctions”.

However, on February 29 all ambassadors of the EU member-countries to Belarus left Minsk. After that the Belarusian Foreign Ministry made it clear that Minsk would be ready to welcome back the EU ambassadors only after the European Union found a way for a constructive dialogue with Belarus.

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