BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

24/02/2006

Prague Accuses Minsk of 'Gross' Diplomatic Violation

24 February 2006 -- A war of words has erupted between Belarus and the Czech Republic, with Prague accusing Minsk of "grossly violating" international diplomatic conventions.

The exchange began after undercover Belarusian police stopped a Czech embassy car on 22 February in Minsk. The car was on its way to the German embassy, to deliver copies of a UN report detailing human rights abuses in Belarus. The Czech car's Belarusian driver was threatened with prison for "subversive" activity.

Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda says the Belarusian authorities -- under international law -- had no right to pull over the embassy car, much less to threaten its driver.

In an interview published on 24 February in the Czech newspaper "Mlada Fronta Dnes," Svoboda says Prague views the incident as "very serious."

Svoboda says Czech diplomats will continue to distribute the UN report and he called on other EU states to do the same.

(CTK, Mlada fronta Dnes)

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/02/C52DE57D-F9D6-4A5C-8716-FA23BF11EEE7.html