Between Belarus and Sweden, the rag is burning (maj)

August 8, 20128th May 2018 Nicolas Gros Verheyde

(BRUSSELS2) Belarus has decided to expel all Swedish diplomats stationed in the capital and to recall its diplomats stationed in Stockholm by August 30. Between the two countries, the situation is still tense. On Friday the country had already taken the unilateral decision to expel the Swedish ambassador. Or rather to “not renewing his accreditation”as a belarusian official explained. Measure which had aroused a harsh reaction in Stockholm. That " constitutes a flagrant violation of the norms of relations between States immediately declared Carl Bildt, the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs. " The accusations against (our) ambassador are unfounded. It is no secret that Sweden is strongly committed to democracy and human rights in Belarus. And Ambassador Eriksson was a valuable resource for Sweden's policy. »

Teddy bears...

Sweden is one of the most committed countries (along with Poland and the Czech Republic) in opposition to the semi-dictatorial regime of Lukashenko. In European meetings, she has often taken the side of defending a policy of harsh sanctions against the regime. It welcomes and supports certain opposition movements. The recent airdrop of teddy bears with messages defending freedoms and democracy - claimed by a Swedish advertising company - was not a joke much appreciated by the belarusian authorities.

COPS meeting convened urgently

On the European side, we have been observing the situation with attention for several days. “The question of Belarus will be on the agenda of the first meeting of the COPS (the Political and Security Committee of the EU) after the summer a European diplomat had already confided to B2 a few years ago. With the next meeting being relatively far away - normally September 4 - he pointed out that the point could be " anticipated at an emergency meeting ". According to our information, a COPS should be called this friday (August 10) afternoon, with the main item on the agenda: Belarus. European diplomats will be happy! NB: We can notice that neither the situation in Syria nor that in Mali have given rise to emergency meetings, Europe has its priorities...

Belarus tense point for diplomats

At the end of February, Belarus had already chosen to hit the Europeans through their ambassadors. He had decided to expel the Polish and European Union ambassadors to protest against the sanctions, in particular of which he considered himself to be an unjust victim... And the 27 had then decided together to withdraw all the ambassadors to mark their disapproval; decision effective at the beginning of March. The European ambassadors had only recently returned to Minsk, at the end of April and May.

(written with the help of Damien Kerlouet)