MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th October, 2022) Head of EU Delegation to Belarus Dirk Schuebel said on Tuesday that he would not be able to fulfill his mandate as his visa and accreditation were not extended by the Belarusian authorities.
"After three years in office, my mandate as the EU's Ambassador to Belarus has come to an end. The Belarusian authorities decided not to extend my visa and accreditation for another year, which renders the implementation of my mandate very difficult. I very much regret this decision since I was prepared to continue my work with Belarus in my capacity as Ambassador, and I had even hoped to be able to return to Minsk for my last year in office," Schuebel said on social media.
Schuebel said he was nominated as the EU's Special Envoy for the Eastern Partnership, while the leadership of the EU delegation in Minsk would go to chargee d'affaires Evelina Schulz.
Schuebel noted that when he assumed office in 2019, bilateral relations between the bloc and Belarus were on an "overall positive trend."
"Our relations then suffered a massive degradation as a result of the blatant violations of human rights and international law committed by the Belarusian authorities in the run-up, on the day and, in particular, in the aftermath of the presidential elections of August 2020," the diplomat added.
At the end of June 2021, Belarus recalled its permanent representative in the EU and Schuebel was offered to leave for Brussels for consultations. The ambassador left Belarus on June 30 of the same year.
Belarus faced a political crisis in the wake of the presidential election in August 2020, won by incumbent Alexander Lukashenko. The opposition did not recognize the results, which led to mass protests across the country. The Belarusian authorities said the protests were coordinated from abroad. As a result, Western countries imposed sanctions on Minsk for alleged electoral fraud and human rights violations.
