Foreign Ministry: US interfering into Belarus’ internal affairs

The visa restrictions imposed by the US State Department on Belarusian officials are interference in the sovereign state’s internal affairs – as stressed by the press secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, Anatoly Glaz

“The new year has come, and the policy of the US State Department has remained unchanged,” Mr. Glaz said in a statement posted on the Belarusian Foreign Ministry’s website. “We regard this decision as interference in the internal affairs of our sovereign state, as an attempt to put pressure on its judicial system. It is only regrettable that American diplomats, who are expected to be engaged into looking for compromises, cannot stop in any way and continue to spin the spiral of escalation. Of course, we will be forced to react to this short-sighted and erroneous step.”

Mr. Glaz stressed that it is even more regrettable that the US State Department has no somewhat intelligent specialists in Belarus who could inform their leadership about the real situation in the country, about how the Belarusian people live and who they support. "On the other hand, where can these specialists come from if the American Embassy has not been operational in Minsk for almost a year?" the diplomat wondered.

“Actually, the American side has information about the real state of affairs in Belarus. According to a recent survey conducted by the International Republican Institute (which is actually American), 71 percent of Belarusians would entrust the management of Belarus to the current government in the future, and only 7 percent would prefer the opposition. So whom is the US State Department supporting? Unwillingness to see the facts results in erroneous decisions. It is very sad and disturbing when erroneous decisions are made by a state like the United States," Mr. Glaz concluded.