Aug. 12 (UPI) — Belarus has revoked its consent to the appointment of Julie Fisher as U.S. ambassador and has ordered its embassy in Minsk to reduce its staff to five American employees by September in retaliation against U.S. sanctions imposed earlier this week.
The move comes in response to the White House imposing coordinated sanctions with Canada and Britain against the Eastern European country on Monday, the one-year anniversary of President Alexander Lukashenko winning a sixth term in office in a widely discredited election.
The United States with its Western allies have repeatedly imposed sanctions and other punitive diplomatic measures against Belarus in response to its election and its subsequent bloody crackdown on demonstrators that has resulted in the arrests of tens of thousands of protesters and forced opposition politicians to flee the country.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Anatol Glaz said Wednesday the revoking of its previously granted consent for Fisher to be the U.S. ambassador was in response to “their unfriendly and even aggressive actions.”
He told reporters during a press briefing that the restrictions on the United States’ diplomatic mission in the country were being imposed as they see “no point” in the Americans’ presence in the country “against the background of Washington’s actions to reduce cooperation in all spheres” and its economic sanctions.
“Taking into account the loss of confidence in the current U.S. administration on the part of Belarus, the coordination of all new projects, grants and programs through the U.S. government on our part is suspended until such trust is restored,” he said.
State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed to reporters during a press conference that the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed the United States that it has until Sept. 1 to reduce its Minsk embassy staff to five Americans and that it has revoked its consent for Fisher.
“It is important to remember in all of this and to acknowledge that Belarusian authorities are responsible for the deterioration in U.S.-Belarus relations through relentless repression against their citizens,” he said. “And that includes through the intensifying crackdowns that we have seen targeting members of civil society, targeting media, targeting athletes, students, legal professionals and other citizens.”
Fisher, who in December was sworn in as the first U.S. ambassador to Belarus since 2008, had yet to receive a visa from Belarus and has been residing in neighboring Lithuania where exiled opposition politicians, including Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, fled to amid the crackdown on protesters.
The U.S. embassy in Minsk in a statement said its staff will continue to work to support the people of Belarus and engage with leaders of the pro-democracy movement as well as media professionals, students, teachers and other members of civil society.
“Today’s actions only reinforce our efforts in support of the Belarusian people,” Fisher said via Twitter. “The way out of the crisis is not reducing dialogue and engagement but increasing it. Our team remains all in and will continue to stand with Belarus.”