Updated 00.45 | Published 00.27
Belarus has angrily sent its ambassador home from Stockholm, writes Radio Free Europe.
Sweden, in turn, has recalled the top diplomat from Minsk.
The quarrel is said to be rooted in an earlier message from Foreign Minister Tobias Billström.
It is unclear when Ambassador Dmitrij Mironchyk left Sweden, but according to the international media house Radio Free Europe he has been ordered back to Minsk by Lukashenko’s regime.
Sweden, in turn, has called home its chargé d’affaires Eva Sundqvist, who since September 2022 is Sweden’s highest representative at the embassy in Minsk. That’s what Radio Free Europes writes Russian-language publication Radio Svoboda and calls the quarrel “a diplomatic scandal”.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry confirms the information for Radio Free Europe.
“Sweden’s temporary chargé d’affaires in Minsk is currently in Stockholm for consultations. Work at the embassy in Minsk continues as usual,” the Foreign Ministry’s press department states, according to the media house.
Named representative
The background is that the government two months ago named the former Minsk ambassador Christina Johannesson as the official Swedish representative towards the Belarusian opposition in exile.
Sweden thus followed the example of France, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland by appointing a special envoy in contacts with the Belarusian democracy movement, according to Radio Free Europe.
Foreign Minister Tobias Billström (M) made the announcement during a visit to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on 6 November. In a line number about Sweden’s stance towards Belarus, he emphasized that the pressure should continue on the regime and that contacts with the opposition, led by Svetlana Tichanovskaja, should be deepened.
Billström’s answer: “She won the election”
On the same day, Billström was interviewed in Vilnius. He was asked if he believes Tikhanovskaya is the country’s rightful president after the disputed 2020 election when the regime cracked down on the subsequent popular protests.
– We recognize her as a person who won the election and who should rightfully have been sworn in as the president of Belarus, Billström said according to Radio Free Europe.
Foreign Ministry: “Negotiations were held”
The media house now states, with reference to diplomatic sources in Minsk, that the appointment of Christina Johannesson angered Lukashenko’s regime and led to the decision to recall the ambassador.
According to Radio Free Europe, Belarus also demanded that Eva Sundqvist be sent back to Stockholm.
Aftonbladet has unsuccessfully sought the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a comment.
To Radio Free Europe, the Foreign Ministry’s press service states that there have been “negotiations” with Belarusian representatives after Christina Johannesson was appointed, but that there are “no concrete reactions to report”.