Belarus left in wrath after Swedish decision

 

News  

 

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya 

Big fight between Sweden and Belarus - described as "scandal"  

 

Hans Österman  

 

Published 00.27  

 

Tobias Billström. Photo: Lotte Fernvall  

 

Belarus has angrily sent its ambassador home from Stockholm, writes Radio Free Europe. 

 

Sweden, in turn, has recalled the top diplomat from Minsk.  

 

The quarrel is said to be rooted in an earlier message from Foreign Minister Tobias Billström.  

 

It is unclear when Ambassador Dmitrij Mironchyk left Sweden, but according to the international  media house Radio Free Europe, he has been ordered back to Minsk by Lukashenko's regime. 

 

Sweden, in turn, has called home its chargé d'affaires Eva Sundqvist, who since September 2022 is Sweden's highest representative at the embassy in Minsk. That's what Radio Free Europe's Russian-language edition Radio Svoboda writes and calls the quarrel "a diplomatic scandal". 

 

The Swedish Foreign Ministry confirms the information for Radio Free Europe. 

 

"Sweden's temporary chargé d'affaires in Minsk is currently in Stockholm for consultations. Work at the embassy in Minsk continues as usual," the Foreign Ministry's press department states, according to the media house. 

 

Named representative  

 

The background is that two months ago the government  named the former Minsk ambassador Christina Johannesson as the official Swedish representative vis-à-vis the Belarusian opposition in exile.  

Sweden thus followed the example of France, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland by appointing a special envoy in contacts with the Belarusian democracy movement, according to Radio Free Europe. 

  

Svetlana Tichanovskaya during an election rally in 2020. Photo: AP Foreign Minister 

 

Tobias Billström(M) made the announcement during a visit to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on 6 November. In a line speech about Sweden's stance towards Belarus, he emphasized that the pressure should continue on the regime and that contacts with the opposition, led by Svetlana Tichanovskaja, should be deepened.

 

Billström's answer: "She won the election" 

 

On the same day, Billström was interviewed in Vilnius. He was asked if he believes Tikhanovskaya is the country's rightful president after the disputed 2020 election in which the regime cracked down on popular protests. 

 

- We recognize her as a person who won the election and who should rightfully have been sworn in as the president of Belarus, Billström said according to Radio Free Europe.  

 

The media house now states, with reference to diplomatic sources in Minsk, that the appointment of Christina Johannesson angered Lukashenko's regime and led to the decision to recall the ambassador.  

 

According to Radio Free Europe, Belarus also demanded that Eva Sundqvist be sent back to Stockholm.  

Aftonbladet has unsuccessfully sought the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a comment.  

 

To Radio Free Europe, the Foreign Ministry's press service states that there have been "negotiations" with Belarusian representatives after Christina Johannesson was appointed, but that there are "no concrete reactions to share". 

  

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. Photo: Ilya Pitalev / TT News Agency

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