Nauseda: Minsk embassy staff reduction shows regime's "only taking care of its survival"

The Belarusian regime, which has recently told Lithuania to reduce its diplomatic presence in the country to the minimum, continues on its path towards self-isolation and is only interested in its own survival, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Wednesday.

"It only shows the Belarusian regime's wish to self-isolate and become even more dependent on its big neighbor," the president told journalists. "Such effort to self-isolate and close itself from the external world ends up bad in most cases, bad for the country itself and for its people."

The existing situation shows that the interests of the people of Belarus and its civil society "are the things the Belarusian regime is interested the least".

"The regime is only taking care of its survival at any cost," Nauseda said.

As reported earlier, on Tuesday, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said it was reducing the size of the Lithuanian Embassy to the minimum until Lithuania "unfriendly initiatives that incite confrontation in relations with Belarus".

The embassy's staff is being reduced to one consular and three technical-administrative staff members.

Earlier in the day, Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it’s planning countermeasures in response to Belarus' recent decision.