MINSK. Feb 17 (Interfax) - The Polish charge d'affaires ad interim in Belarus was summoned to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry on Friday, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry press service said.
"The Polish diplomat was informed in a civilized key about the measures taken by the Belarusian side in retaliation to the anti-humane unilateral decision of the government of Mateusz Morawiecki to close the crossing point Bobrovniki to traffic on the Polish side," the report said.
"In this connection, we have changed the Polish cargo carriers' traffic mode. From now on they can enter the territory of the Republic of Belarus and leave it through any cargo checkpoint, but solely on the Belarusian-Polish part of the border," the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry also put on the Polish government as the initiator of the restrictions "the entire blame for the deterioration of its carriers' working conditions."
"The staff of the Polish Consulate General in Grodno should be brought to quantitative parity with the number of employees of the Belarusian Consulate General in Bialystok. The Belarusian side sees no point in further stay on is territory of the communications office of the Polish Border Guard, either," the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said.
"We gave him a chance, but instead of building bridges and assisting the solution of problems, including for Polish carriers, in actual fact his activities were directed to the opposite side," the press service said.
"We emphasize once again that all measures are retaliatory. Belarus does not plan to worsen living and business conditions of its or neighboring citizens on its own initiative. However, any destructive steps by the Polish government will not be left without attention, in this regard we reserve the right to more serious measures to protect national interests. We are again calling on the government of Mateusz Morawiecki to think before making responsible decisions that affect people's lives and use the readiness of the Belarusian side for mutually respectful dialogue," the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said.
Polish Minister of the Interior and Administration Mariusz Kaminski has announced the tit-for-tat reaction to the Belarusian restrictions on Polish carriers.
"If the Belarusian authorities apply the restrictions they have announced on the Polish carriers, Poland's reaction to the Belarusian carriers will be identical," Kaminski said on Twitter on Friday.
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