French ambassador ordered out of Belarus

No official reason given but media reports say diplomat expelled as he handed his credentials to Belarus FM and not President Lukashenko.

France’s ambassador has reportedly been ordered out of Belarus and has already left the country.

AFP news agency, citing the French embassy in Minsk, did not say why the ambassador, Nicolas de Bouillane de Lacoste, was expelled.

Belarusian media reported that Minsk had recalled its ambassador to Paris, Igor Fesenko, and added that Lacoste was expelled because he never met President Alexander Lukashenko to give him copies of his credentials.