On Friday, May 28, Lithuania has declared two employees of the Embassy of Belarus persona non grata, Lithuanian Foreign Ministry announced .
“Today, on 28 May, a representative of the Embassy of Belarus to Lithuania was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and handed in a diplomatic note, declaring two members of the Embassy's staff personae non gratae, because they had carried out activities incompatible with their diplomatic status...” the statement reads.
According to the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis, such a decision was an expression of solidarity with Latvia, since a few days ago Belarus expelled employees of the Embassy of Latvia in Minsk without justification.
Belarusian diplomats must leave Lithuania within seven days.
Lithuania's Foreign Ministry also expressed its protest to the representative of Belarus over the ongoing repression of civil society and independent media in Belarus, and demanded an immediate release of Raman Pratasevich, his friend Sofia Sapega, other political prisoners and illegally detained persons.