Belarus to expel two Polish diplomats, Border Guard’s liaison officer

February 20, BPN. The Belarusian authorities have decided to slash Poland’s diplomatic presence in their country, a spokesman for the Polish foreign ministry has told Onet.pl.

“A liaison officer of the Polish Border Guard will leave Belarus by Wednesday evening. Two Polish consuls in Hrodna will probably also be expelled,” Łukasz Jasina said.

Unofficial reports suggest that the Polish government discusses a possible reaction to the Belarusian regime’s decision, Onet.pl wrote. It is possible that Poland will also expel some of the Belarusian diplomats, it added.

On February 17, the Belarusian foreign ministry said it summoned Polish Charge d’Affaires Krzysztof Ożanna to inform him about a response to Warsaw’s “inhuman unilateral decision” to block traffic at the Bierastavica-Bobrowniki border crossing.

The diplomat was told about changes in the rules of movement of Polish lorries and tractor trucks across the border with Belarus.

“They will now be able to enter and leave Belarus through any freight checkpoint, but only on the Belarusian-Polish section of the border,” the Belarusian foreign ministry said.

In addition, Poland was obliged to reduce the staff of the Consulate General in Hrodna “to match the staff in Belarus’ Consulate General in Białystok.”

Also, the Belarusian authorities “do not see the point in further keeping the Polish Border Service liaison officer in their territory.”

“We gave them a chance, but instead of building bridges and assistance in solving problematic issues, including for Polish carriers, their activity was actually directed in the opposite direction,” it said.

Last week, Warsaw closed the major crossing until further notice, citing security interests.

This came after a Belarusian court sentenced a reporter of Polish origin, Andrzej Poczobut (Andrej Pačobut), to eight years’ imprisonment. The Polish Sejm called the sentence “the culmination of the Belarusian authorities’ repression against the Polish minority in Belarus that has been ongoing since early 2021.”