Charge d'Affaires of Poland in Belarus summoned to Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On February 17, Charge d'Affaires of Poland in Belarus, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus.

In a civilized manner, the Polish diplomat was informed about the response of the Belarusian side to the inhumane unilateral decision of the government of Mateusz Morawiecki to close the Bobrowniki crossing point on the Polish side.

"In this regard, we have changed the mode of movement of Polish carriers. From now on, Polish citizens will be able to enter and leave Belarus through any freight checkpoint, but only on the Belarusian-Polish section of the border," reads the statement of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.

The department stressed that all responsibility for the deteriorating conditions for the Polish carriers lies on the initiator of restrictive measures, that is, the current government of Poland.

"The staff of the Consulate General of Poland in Grodno should be brought to quantitative parity with the number of employees of the Consulate General of Belarus in Bialystok. The Belarusian side also sees no point in the continued presence of the Polish Border Guard liaison officer in its territory. We gave him a chance, but instead of building bridges and assistance in solving problematic issues, including of the Polish carriers, his activity was actually aimed at the opposite direction," said the Foreign Ministry.

All measures are retaliatory in nature. Belarus does not plan to proactively worsen the living and business conditions of either its own or its neighbors. "However, any destructive steps of the Polish government will not be ignored. In this regard, we reserve the right to take more serious retaliatory measures to protect national interests," the ministry explained.

The Belarusian side once again urged the government of Mateusz Morawiecki to think before making responsible decisions affecting people's lives, and to take advantage of Minsk's readiness for a mutually respectful dialogue.