U.S. Department of State: “Belarus has taken a path of confrontation and isolation”

• 25.03.2008, 8:19

George Bush administration expressed deep regret in connection with necessity to reduce twofold staff of the U.S. embassy in Minsk and said “Belarus has taken a path of confrontation and isolation.”

The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanded last week to cut staff of the U.S. embassy in Belarus. The Belarusian foreign ministry recommended the U.S. ambassador to leave the country for consultations. These steps were taken in response to imposing restricting economic measures against Belarus by the United States.

“The United States will, with great regret, reduce the number of American staff at our embassy in Minsk by almost half, at the insistence of the Government of Belarus," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement, spread in Washington on Monday.

The document says "visa processing in Belarus is temporarily suspended,” but the embassy “continues to provide all American citizen services in Belarus.”

We also regret the closure of several of our American Corners by the regime in Minsk. These resource facilities in local libraries provide access to current and reliable information about the U.S. via book collections and the internet,” McCormack says in his statement.