MISNK, May 28. /TASS/. Belarus has declared two Lithuanian diplomats personae non gratae in response to Lithuania’s ungrounded decision to expel two Belarusian diplomats, Belarusian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Anatoly Glaz said in a press statement on Friday.
"Following the principle of reciprocity, we were forced to take tit-for-tat measures today and declare two Lithuanian diplomats personae non gratae for activities that are incompatible with their diplomatic status. They were given seven days to leave Belarus," according to the document cited by BelTA agency.
According to the Belarusian diplomat, Minsk considers Vilnius’ decision to expel Belarusian diplomats as an absolutely ungrounded step. "One of the logical explanations is that Lithuania is deliberately fueling the escalation in relations with Belarus. <…> No matter how this fact would be interpreted in the future, as a matter of fact, this step will be remembered as an ungrounded initiative of the Lithuanian side," Glaz said.
The Belarusian diplomat noted that this situation, which was initiated by the Lithuanian side, would adversely impact the citizens of both countries, as problems with consular services would limit opportunities to communicate. He stressed that Minsk "calls on Lithuanian politicians to drop the logic of confrontation, the deliberate fanning of tensions in relations with your neighbors, which is harmful to the interests of the two countries’ citizens."
Lithuania’s foreign ministry said earlier on Friday that two employees of the Belarussian embassy had been declared personae non gratae for activities incompatible with their diplomatic status. They were given seven days to leave the country. Vilnius said this decision had been taken in solidarity with Latvia after Belarus expelled that country’s diplomats and embassy employees for no apparent reason, Lithuania claims. The Lithuanian foreign ministry also demanded Belarus immediately release Roman Protasevich, one of the co-founders of the Nexta Telegram channel, which was recognized as extremist in Belarus, and Russian national Sofia Sapega, who were detained in Minsk.