Estonia’s Foreign Minister Urmas Paet has condemned the Belarusian government’s move to order 10 American diplomats to leave the country.

In his statement, the Estonian minister questions Minsk’s explanation that there should be an equal number of American diplomats in Belarus and Belarusian diplomats in the United States and predicts that “this decision will become punishment for Belarusian residents in the first place.”

Mr. Paet notes that Washington has provided millions of dollars for programs in Belarus that the Belarusian government cannot finance. According to him, “along with civil society development programs, programs of cultural cooperation between the USA and Belarus, educational programs may be terminated, which will put the local population in an even worse position.”

Expressing solidarity with the United States and its diplomats, Mr. Paet notes that the entire responsibility for the consequences of the row rests with Minsk and calls on the latter to review its “short-sighted decision.”

The Estonian minister has expressed certainty that the European Union will adopt a single stance on the matter in the near future and continue following the situation closely.