Belarus has no official information about U.S. Ambassador-Designate Fisher’s possible accreditation in Lithuania - Foreign Ministry

<p> MINSK, Apr 22 - PrimePress. Belarus has no official information about the possible accreditation of the U.S. ambassador-designate to Belarus, Julie Fischer, in Lithuania. This follows from the answer by Belarus’ Foreign Ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz to the question by the TASS agency, published on the website of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “To be honest, we have no official information in this regard, while the statements by various Lithuanian officials have been so numerous and contradictory lately that it's somehow ridiculous to base one's opinion on them. If there is more clarity, we will be able to talk more substantively,” said Glaz. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “But academically, professionally it is not even clear to us what accreditation we can talk about. Purely hypothetically, if it is an ambassador’s accreditation to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, it means there will be two U.S. ambassadors in Lithuania to represent American interests there. It is absolutely clear that the Ambassador, who is in Lithuania, can’t and never will have anything to do with Belarus,” he said. </p> <p>   </p> <p> According to Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomenas, the USA requested Lithuania to accredit its Ambassador Julie Fisher, who was denied a Belarusian visa to work in Minsk. The U.S. Embassy in Lithuania said that Fisher plans to continue communicating with Belarusians outside Belarus, including leaders of the protest movement, independent journalists and representatives of civil society, in order to support them. Apart from Fisher, five other U.S. diplomats were not granted Belarusian visas. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported, Belarus recalled its ambassador to the United States, Mikhail Khvostov, in March 2008 after the US imposed additional sanctions against the Belneftekhim state petrochemical concern. Belarusian authorities demanded that US Ambassador Karen Stewart leave Belarus, and that the number of American diplomats reduce from 35 to five. Since then, the embassies had been headed by charges d’affaires. The Foreign Ministry of Belarus lifted restrictions on the number of American diplomats in March 2019. </p> <p>   </p> <p> US Under Secretary of State David Hale announced in September 2019 that the United States and Belarus were ready to appoint ambassadors. President Donald Trump nominated Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Europe and the EU Julie D. Fisher as United States ambassador to Belarus. Fisher previously served as deputy chief of mission of the US Mission to NATO and charge d’affaires a.i. of the US embassies in Russia, and counselor at the US embassies in Georgia and Ukraine. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The US has not recognised the official outcome of the August 2020 presidential election in Belarus. The administration of President-elect Joseph Biden has not yet announced the timing of Ambassador Fisher’s arrival in Minsk or whether she will present her credentials to Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. End </p> <p>   </p>

2021-04-23

Primepress