The press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Andrei Savinykh has declared that nobody has expelled the head of the Swedish diplomatic mission Stefan Eriksson from the country. However, it is not true - considers the head of the Rada (Council)...
The press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Andrei Savinykh has declared that nobody has expelled the head of the Swedish diplomatic mission Stefan Eriksson from the country. However, it is not true - considers the head of the Rada (Council) of the International Consortium "EuroBelarus", philosopher and methodologist Uladzimir Matskevich.
"The Belarusan party has not excluded the Swedish ambassador - a decision was made not to renew his credentials. Mr. Stefan Eriksson has worked in Minsk for about seven years; it is a long term. During this time, all his activity has been aimed not at strengthening Belarusan-Swedish relations, but destroying them", - the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said to the EuroBelarus Information Service.
"The accepted decision is exclusively in the dimension of mutual relations. We are ready to make efforts to remain constructive in our ties on the mutually respecting and mutually beneficial basis. At the same time, if the Swedish side seeks to exacerbate the situation, we would be forced to react accordingly", - Andrei Savinykh has warned.
The press secretary has said that the decision not to renew the Swedish ambassador’s credentials has nothing to do with the Swedish teddy bear incident. "No, I have accurately said that it is exclusively in the dimension of bilateral relations", - the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has underlined.
In his turn, Uladzimir Matskevich is convinced - the Belarusan authorities have expelled Stefan Eriksson from the country.
"Everybody knows for certain that language is given to diplomats so that they could hide their thoughts. But the language used by diplomats can be understood anyway. It is no wonder that Andrei Savinykh formulates the official position of Minsk in the way he does", - the expert is sure.
However, the fact remains, he says.
"One of the best ambassadors of the European countries in Belarus, the person who has done much for our culture, who knows quite well the Belarusan language and culture, who knows its most outstanding contemporary figures and is on friendly terms with them, - this person is deprived of his accreditation, without having waited till the termination of the term of its action. Perhaps, in the official language, it sounds like this, but after all each of us understands that Stefan Eriksson has been excluded from the country. He is a great friend of Belarus, Belarusans, and Belarusan culture. And to refuse his accreditation - only enemies of the Belarusan nation could do so”, - Uladzimir Matskevich has declared.
As the EuroBelarus Information Service has already informed, it was Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt who spread the news that Stefan Eriksson had been expelled from Minsk.
"Lukashenko's regime has ousted the ambassador of Sweden from Belarus for he did support human rights. It is scandalous and it shows the nature of the regime", - he has noted.
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