Belarus' MFA describes French ambassador's departure ‘as forced step'
17:09, 18 October
At the request of the Belarusian news agency BelTA, Anatoly Glaz, Head of the Information and Digital Diplomacy Office, Press Secretary of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, commented on the departure of the appointed French Ambassador Nicolas De Lacoste from Belarus.
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"As far as we know, he, indeed, left our country. Mr. De Lacoste came to Belarus in November 2020 as the appointed Ambassador of France and handed over the copy of his credentials to the minister of foreign affairs of Belarus in December 2020. However, subsequently, the head of the French diplomatic mission would not complete the procedure of taking office as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Belarus in accordance with the international law and generally recognized practice," Anatoly Glaz said.
"In this regard, we were forced to inform our French partners that the agrement to his appointment issued earlier by the Belarusian authorities expired," he said.
In turn, Belarusian Ambassador to France Igor Fisenko was recalled to Minsk for consultations.
"We sincerely regret this position of our French colleagues. We would like to emphasize that it was a logical measure on our part, a forced step. We would like both diplomatic missions to function at the full capacity," the spokesperson added.
