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UK deports two Belarusian diplomats in response to Minsk’s actions, top diplomat says

The step follows Minsk's expulsion of two British diplomats the other day

LONDON, November 10. /TASS/. British authorities have deported two Belarusian diplomats as a symmetric response to actions by Minsk, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab reported on Tuesday.

"Today, we have expelled 2 Belarusian diplomats in response to the unjustified expulsion of [British] diplomats," he wrote on his Twitter page.

On Monday, Belarusian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Anatoly Glaz told the ONT TV channel that Minsk had made a decision to declare two diplomats of the UK Embassy personae non gratae "due to the confirmed destructive nature of the activity of the said individuals." According to the law enforcement, these diplomats were gathering information on the internal political situation in Belarus and on the protests. Starting this May, they met numerous times with representatives of opposition and public human rights organizations. One of the diplomats received warnings from Belarusian colleagues but they all went unheeded, the TV channel noted.

As the British Foreign Office reported on Tuesday, Belarusian Ambassador to the UK Maksim Yermolovich was summoned as the result of the deportation of two British diplomats. During the conversation, the British authorities reiterated that "instead of trying to bully those shining a light on his repression, Mr. Lukashenko must agree to free and fair elections and enable those responsible for violence against demonstrators to be held to account."

Nationwide demonstrations have engulfed Belarus following the August 9 presidential election. According to the Central Election Commission’s official results, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide, garnering 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the ballot. However, she refused to recognize the election’s outcome, and left Belarus for Lithuania. After the results of the exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests erupted in downtown Minsk and other Belarusian cities. During the early post-election period, the rallies snowballed into fierce clashes between the protesters and police. The current unrest is being cheered on by the opposition’s Coordination Council, which has been beating the drum for more protests. In response, the Belarusian authorities have castigated the ongoing turmoil and demanded that these unauthorized demonstrations be stopped.