The UK has temporarily recalled its ambassador to Belarus, Jacqueline Perkins, in response to the Belarusian government’s decision to expel 35 diplomats from neighbouring Poland and Lithuania.
Minsk asked the two countries to scale back the number of diplomatic staff they had in Belarus on Friday amid ongoing political unrest following the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko.
Protests disputing the results of the election have been going for more than two months, with demands made for Lukashenko’s resignation and freedom for political prisoners.
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On Friday night, Raab tweeted: “(The UK) condemns Belarus’ decision to expel Polish & Lithuanian diplomats. Completely unjustified and will only isolate the Belarusian people. In solidarity, we are temporarily recalling our Ambassador for consultations on the situation in Belarus.”
According to the disputed official count, Lukashenko, who has been the sole occupant of the position since it was established 26 years ago, won with 80% of the vote while his main challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya received only 10%.
She and her supporters refused to recognise the result as valid, and huge protests have rocked Belarusian cities ever since.
In September, the UK imposed sanctions on Lukashenko, his son and six other senior government officials judged to be responsible for rigging the August presidential poll and suppressing subsequent street protests. The sanctions include an asset freeze and travel ban imposed on Lukashenko himself.
The Belarusian government has detained more than 10,000 people since the protests began, according to the Viasna human rights centre.
On Sunday, more than 100,000 people marched in Belarus’ capital, Minsk, calling for Lukashenko’s resignation, and freedom for political prisoners. Police used water cannon to disperse the crowds, but protesters remained undeterred. One video from the rally showed a group of protesters approaching a water cannon vehicle, opening a hatch on its side and removing pieces from inside. Media reports say the water cannon malfunctioned after that and drove away.
Tikhanovskaya has increasingly received support from western politicians, meeting the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Vilnius last week and Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, before that. After visiting Berlin, she will travel to Bratislava to take part in an international conference.
Tikhanovskaya, a 38-year-old former English teacher, had no political experience before this summer, when she became a last-minute presidential candidate. Her husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, a popular YouTube blogger, had planned to stand in the August election, but was jailed, along with another would-be candidate, banker Viktor Babariko.
Tikhanovskaya said she would run in place of her husband, and was allowed on to the ballot, apparently because Lukashenko believed a woman would pose no threat. However, a growing protest mood coalesced around her, and led to fury when the official results were announced. Tikhanovskaya said she still has no ambitions to be president in the long term, only to act as a transition figure, and said she was getting used to her new role in international diplomacy.
Press Association contributed to this report
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