Belarus expels Czech diplomat in tit-for-tat move after Prague makes spy ring accusations

Belarus' Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned a senior Polish diplomat and ordered a Czech diplomat to leave the country within 72 hours on Friday, in a tit-for-tat move which comes after both countries expelled Belarusian diplomats on espionage grounds earlier this month.

In a statement issued on Friday, Belarus' Foreign Ministry said that "the current situation has been caused by the Czech authorities' years of cultivating a biased attitude towards Belarus."

Czech and Polish authorities expelled Belarusian diplomats, as part of a wider crackdown on a European spy ring made up of agents from Belarus' KGB state security agency, as uncovered by intelligence services from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania.

According to the Czech intelligence agency (BIS), Belarus managed to establish such a spy network because its diplomats are able to freely travel across European countries.

"To successfully counter these hostile activities in Europe, we need to restrict the movement of accredited diplomats from Russia and Belarus within the Schengen (borderless) area," BIS head Michal Koudelka said in a statement.

Heightened tensions with Poland

In the same statement, Minsk said that the details of its discussion with the summoned Polish diplomat would be revealed "at a later date."

"The Belarusian side considers this diplomatic incident to be closed. In the event of further escalation, Belarus will respond appropriately. This position has been communicated to Warsaw and Prague."

Warsaw closed its border with Belarus in the night of the 11 to 12 September, in response to the large-scale Russian-Belarusian "Zapad" joint military exercises.

The exercises began shortly after an unprecedented incursion of at least 19 Russian drones into Polish airspace, which left NATO allies on high alert.

Belarus is led by authoritarian President Aliaksandr Lukashenka, who is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Lukashenka let Russia use Belarusian territory as a staging ground for Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and later allowed the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear missiles.