Belarus refused to renew the Swedish ambassador’s accreditation, but did not expel him from the country, a Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday.
“The Belarusian side did not expel the ambassador. A decision was made not to extend his accreditation,” spokesman Andrey Savinyh said.
Stefan Eriksson was appointed Sweden’s ambassador to Belarus in 2008. According to media reports, he has already left the country.
“His activity was directed not at strengthening bilateral relations, but at destroying them,” the spokesman said.
Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said earlier on Friday that the ambassador was “expelled” for “being too supportive of human rights.”
“Outrageous. Shows nature of regime,” Bildt said in his Twitter.
“We have said that the new Belarus ambassador to Sweden not welcome and have asked two other diplomats to leave,” he added.
Eriksson's departure follows a July 4 incident in which a light plane crossed into Belarusian airspace from neighboring Lithuania, evading the country's air defenses and parachuting teddy bears with slogans in support of human rights. The stunt was carried out by two Swedes who said they wanted to show support for Belarusian rights activists and embarrass the country's top brass.
The stunt’s organizer Per Cromwell denied being in contact with the Swedish ambassador.
"As we have repeatedly said, we had no contacts with anyone on the Belarusian territory,” Belarusian news agency Belapan quoted Cromwell as saying.
