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Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko (archive image)
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Pavel Orlovsky / dpa
Tensions between Poland and Belarus are intensifying: in the dispute over the participation of Polish representatives in a commemorative event for World War II, Belarus has now expelled two more diplomats from the neighboring country.
The two leading employees of the Polish consulate general in the city of Grodno have 48 hours to leave the country, said the Foreign Ministry in Minsk.
Dispute over allegedly illegal commemoration
Belarus had previously accused the head of the Polish consulate general in the city of Brest of having participated in an illegal commemoration ceremony in February for fighters who killed Belarusians during and in the years after World War II.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced that the »heroization of war criminals and the justification of the genocide of the Belarusian people« were unacceptable.
The consul had to leave the country as a result.
After his deportation, Warsaw had declared a Belarusian representative to be an "undesirable person".
Relations between Warsaw and Minsk are strained as Belarus blames Poland for funding and supporting the opposition protests against ruler Alexander Lukashenko.
Last October Belarus also closed the borders with Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine.
Officially, the country justified the step with the corona situation in neighboring countries, but observers suspected more political reasons behind it.
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fek / dpa / AFP