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Sweden To Send Diplomat Back To Minsk


Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt (left) and Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt (left) and Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka
Sweden says it will soon send its first envoy to Belarus since the August expulsion of its ambassador to Minsk.

Belarus expelled Stockholm's ambassador and ordered out all of its diplomats after a Swedish public relations firm in August said it was behind an airdrop of teddy bears carrying messages promoting the protection of human rights in the Belarus.

Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on his Twitter account that a charge d'affaires will be sent back to Minsk to run the Swedish Embassy.

Bildt did not clarify when the envoy is scheduled to arrive in Belarus, saying only that it will happen "soon."

Belarusian President President Alyaksandr Lukashenka fired his foreign minister as part of a sweeping reshuffle that followed the diplomatic crisis.

Based on reporting by AFP and dpa

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