Belarus says diplomat hurt in London embassy ‘attack’, makes formal protest
- Foreign ministry says ‘group’ damaged building and attacked diplomats; one treated for ‘broken nose, concussion, broken tooth’
- British envoy in Minsk summoned for formal protest
Belarus said Monday it had summoned a British diplomat in protest after its embassy in London was “attacked” and a diplomat injured.
One was treated for a broken nose, light concussion and a broken tooth, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website, and needed “urgent medical assistance”.
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The government said it had summoned a British envoy in Minsk to make a formal protest and demand that those responsible be brought to justice.
The assailants tried to hide, but some were detained; they are thought to belong to a radical group called “Nadzeya”, it said.
A Facebook group with the same name appeared to support members of the Belarusian political opposition that was crushed in a crackdown on mass anti-government protests last year.
Posts on social media show a small demonstration outside the Belarusian Embassy on Sunday. London’s Metropolitan Police force had no immediate information on the alleged incident.
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The attack “eloquently demonstrates the true face and methods of fanatics, whom a number of countries of the collective West are persistently trying to pass off as peaceful protesters”, Belarus’ statement said.
Belarus’ authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has unleashed a sweeping crackdown on protesters, journalists and civil society groups since he was reelected in a 2020 presidential election that the opposition and the West rejected as rigged.
Western countries accuse Belarus of engineering a migrant influx at its border with EU member Poland by letting thousands of people in and encouraging them to cross into the European Union as a form of retaliation against EU sanctions.
Belarus, ruled by Lukashenko since 1994, has rejected the accusations.