Lukashenka dismissed the Belarusian ambassador to Poland

Alyaksandr Lukashenka has signed a decree dismissing Uladzimir Chushau, the Belarusian ambassador to Poland. Polish-Belarusian diplomatic relations have been deteriorating since mass protests erupted in Minsk after the 2020 Presidential elections.

Earlier in the autumn of 2020, at the initiative of the Belarusian side the ambassadors of Poland and Belarus were recalled to their respective countries “for consultations” and did not stay in their designated countries.

The relevant decree by Alyaksandr Lukashenka was published on the official Belarusian legal website on Saturday.

Diplomatic deterioration

Mr Chushau had been the ambassador to Poland since March 2019. In the summer of 2020, mass protests erupted in Belarus over allegedly rigged presidential elections.

In October, in a wave of aggravation in relations with Poland, Minsk summoned its ambassador “for consultations” and recommended the same to the Polish ambassador in Minsk Artur Michalski.

Since then, the diplomatic missions in Warsaw and Minsk have been headed by the chargé d'affaires, but Mr Chushau, as well as Mr Michalski, continued to serve as ambassadors.