Prague Summons Belarusian Ambassador Due To Football Federation Head Incident

PRAGUE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2021) Ambassador of Belarus in Prague Valery Kurdyukov has been summoned to the Czech Foreign Ministry in connection with the incident with the head of the Belarusian football federation Vladimir Bazanov, who was expelled from the Czech Republic together with his wife earlier this week due to violation of COVID measures, Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek said on Thursday.

"Responding to the summons of our diplomat in Minsk because of Mr. Bazanov, I instructed my deputy to call the Belarusian ambassador. I'll repeat to him that (President Alexander) Lukashenko's friends and allies have nothing to do in the Czech Republic! And today at the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting I am criticizing Lukashenko's regime," Kulhanek wrote on Twitter.

On Tuesday, the online edition Deník N reported on the detention of Bazanov and his wife. According to the newspaper, Bazanov arrived in the country in connection with a match between the football players of the national teams of the Czech Republic and Belarus.

On Wednesday, the press secretary of the police of the Moravian-Silesian region, where the detention took place, told Sputnik that persons detained due to violation of the anti-epidemic measures in force in the republic were expelled from the country on Tuesday evening. In addition, according to Iroushkova, they had ex officio canceled visas of another Schengen state.