Belarus customs officials seize diplomatic mail from Polish diplomats
On April 24 at the border crossing in Bruzgi, Belarus customs officials detained a car with several employees of Poland's foreign ministry who were going on a duty trip to Belarus. The diplomats were expected to visit the Polish Consulate in Hrodna and Poland's Embassy in Minsk. The diplomats refused to be searched, and negotiations with customs officers lasted for 12 hours. Despite the protests of the Poles, customs officials sezied the diplomatic mail and turned the diplomats back to Poland.
According to Belarus' former deputy foreign minister Andrei Sannikov, checking the dilplomatic mail of a foreign country is a violation of all the international conventions and standards. Even if customs officials suspected that the diplomats tried to bring something across the border, they had to contact the Polish foreign ministry. This was not done.
The Polish foreign ministry is invetigating the incident. However, unofficial reports suggest that Poland will not advertise it heavily because of the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit in Prague, a key event in order to drag Belarus into West's orbit.
Gazeta Wyborcza
According to Belarus' former deputy foreign minister Andrei Sannikov, checking the dilplomatic mail of a foreign country is a violation of all the international conventions and standards. Even if customs officials suspected that the diplomats tried to bring something across the border, they had to contact the Polish foreign ministry. This was not done.
The Polish foreign ministry is invetigating the incident. However, unofficial reports suggest that Poland will not advertise it heavily because of the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit in Prague, a key event in order to drag Belarus into West's orbit.
Gazeta Wyborcza
