Belarusian authorities have expelled three Polish diplomats, Foreign Ministry spokesman Łukasz Jasina reported. Among those expelled are two consuls from Grodno and a Polish Border Guard liaison officer from Minsk.

The diplomats must leave Belarusian territory by Wednesday. “We are thinking about what would be an adequate response,” commented the Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Closure of border crossing

As of Saturday morning, Polish carriers can use only one border crossing on their return from Belarus, the Border Guard reported. This is due to Minsk’s action in response to Poland’s closure of the Bobrowniki border crossing.

On February 9, Poland announced the closure “due to the interests of state security” of the Bobrowniki border crossing, the last one operating in the Grodno region.

A day earlier, a Belarusian court in Grodno sentenced Polish minority activist and journalist Andrzej Poczobut to eight years in a penal colony.