Belarus expels Czech diplomat in tit-for-tat move after Prague makes spy ring accusations
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/09/2025 (354 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Belarus expelled a Czech diplomat Friday in a tit-for-tat move amid deteriorating relations between Minsk and European Union nations.
In a statement, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry linked the event to “cultivated bias against Belarus by the Czech authorities.”
The Czech Republic expelled a Belarusian diplomat after announcing on Sept. 8 that it had broken up a spy network in Europe that was controlled by Minsk.
At the time, the Czech intelligence agency, also known as BIS, said in a statement that a team of European agents discovered spies from Belarus’ KGB security agency in several European countries.
Poland announced shortly afterward that it arrested a Belarusian spy. It said it would expel a Belarusian diplomat who “supported the aggressive action of the Belarusian state against Poland.”
While no Polish diplomats were expelled, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said Friday that it had summoned the head of Poland’s diplomatic mission for “a substantive discussion on the current state of Belarus-Poland relations.”
Belarus has been ruled for more than three decades by authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Lukashenko allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory as a springboard for Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and later authorized the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear missiles.
In September Poland completely closed its border with Belarus, citing concerns about the “Zapad 2025” military exercises taking place in the country with the involvement of Russian troops.