Belarus has expelled five Polish diplomats in a row over commemorations of a World War Two event. The move comes a day after the Polish government removed the head of its embassy's consular section in Belarus. The two countries are at loggerheads over what happened in 1945 when Soviet Red Army soldiers murdered thousands of Polish officers in a forest in western Russia. Last week Poland declared 22 March a national day of remembrance for the victims. Belarus which was then a Soviet republic insists the tragedy was a Soviet crime and Poles were not specifically targeted.
On Monday a group of Polish diplomats tried to lay flowers at a memorial in the Kurapaty forest outside the Belarusian capital Minsk. They were stopped by Belarusian police on the grounds that the site is now under a "security zone". Belarusian state television said the diplomats had entered "an area of heightened security" and attempted to "desecrate the monument". The Poles said they had been unlawfully prevented from paying their respects.
Polish foreign ministry spokesman Marcin Wojciechowski said the expulsions were "revenge for Monday's democratic protest". Belarusian foreign ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz played down the incident saying it was a "highly emotional situation" but that the five diplomats had broken consular rules.
The Polish ambassador Artur Michalski was summoned by the Belarusian foreign ministry on Tuesday and told that five Polish diplomats must leave the country within 48 hours. In response Poland announced that five Belarusian diplomats would be expelled. Mr Wojciechowski said the expulsions would reduce the number of consular staff at the Polish embassy in Minsk to just two.
Belarus does not recognise 22 March as an official day of remembrance. It instead marks the anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany on 9 May. Mr Wojciechowski said Poland had invited Belarus to send representatives to the commemorations planned for 22 March but had received no response.
