Belarus expels OSCE diplomats

A British diplomat working in Minsk for Europe's main security body left Belarus for Poland on June 3 after becoming the second envoy to be thrown out of the country in a standoff over alleged political interference.

Andrew Carpenter, number three in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mission in the Belarusian capital, had his diplomatic accreditation withdrawn from midnight that day, Foreign Ministry spokesman Pavel Latushka said.

"The Belarusian authorities have decided not to extend the visa of Andrew Carpenter, and for that reason his diplomatic accreditation is revoked as of June 4," Latushka said without further comment.

Diplomats at the OSCE headquarters in Vienna said Carpenter received "verbal notification revoking his diplomatic card. No reason was given."

Carpenter follows in the traces of the mission's second-in-command, Frenchman Michel Rivollier, who was expelled on April 15 after Belarus refused to renew his visa.

Hans-Georg Wieck, the German OSCE mission head in Minsk, left Minsk in December after being repeatedly accused of supporting the opposition.

President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's government has persistently refused to accredit the mission's designated new chief, German diplomat Eberhard Heyken.

Last week, Belarusian officials informed Carpenter they were not extending his visa and returned his passport to him without comment.

Minsk has not criticized Carpenter personally, but Foreign Minister Mikhail Khvostov has on several occasions warned that the OSCE mission in Belarus would be wound up "unless the group's mandate is changed."

A leading Belarus opposition figure, former Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Sanikov, said the latest developments "show that the authorities have decided to get rid of the OSCE mission.

"Carpenter has broken no laws and had no activities incompatible with those of an OSCE representative," he said.

Minsk accuses the OSCE - a grouping of 55 countries mostly from Europe and Central Asia, but which also includes the United States and Canada - of interfering in its internal affairs by criticizing Lukashenka's authoritarian regime.

With Carpenter's departure, the OSCE mission in Minsk is left with only two remaining staff members, one an American whose visa is due to expire in July, the other a Moldovan diplomat.

"The standoff is continuing," an OSCE diplomat in Vienna said.

The Portuguese presidency of the OSCE "now has to make the difficult choice between carrying on negotiations until the end of July or closing down the mission," the envoy said.

However, the tensions with Minsk could create an awkward precedent for the Pan-European body tasked with strengthening democratic standards by such activities as defending human rights, observing elections and training local electoral observers.

The OSCE has missions in 22 other countries, and in some of them its presence is considered an unwelcome constraint.

Some, notably in Central Asia, have recently expressed impatience with OSCE missions and hinted that their presence is unnecessary.

The OSCE employs some 4,000 people in countries ranging from Bosnia-Hercegovina to Tajikistan.