BRUSSELS,
Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Catherine Ashton, the foreign policy chief of the European
Union (EU), said on Tuesday member states have decided to recall their
Ambassadors to Minsk.
"Following
today's request by the Belarusian authorities that the Head of the EU
Delegation in Minsk and the Ambassador of Poland to Belarus leave the country,
I have decided, in coordination with (Polish) Foreign Minister Sikorski, that
we will recall for consultations our two ambassadors," Ashton said in a
statement.
Meanwhile,
Ashton called a meeting of member states ambassadors in Brussels on Tuesday to
coordinate the bloc's response.
"In an
expression of solidarity and unity, it was agreed that the ambassadors of the
EU Member States in Minsk will all be withdrawn for consultations to their
capitals. All EU Member States will also summon Belarusian ambassadors to their
foreign ministries," she said.
Minsk told
ambassadors of EU and Poland on Tuesday to leave the country in response to
newly approved EU sanctions against the country.
The
sanctions, adopted by EU Foreign Affairs Council on Monday, include travel
restrictions on 21 judges and senior police officers who should be
"responsible for serious violations of human rights or the repression of
civil society and democratic opposition."
A spokesman
of Belorussian Foreign Ministry stressed on Tuesday that the country's moves
were aimed at informing leadership of the EU and Poland Minsk's firm position
that pressure and sanctions "are unacceptable."
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