Polling stations abroad during the Belarusian referendum on amendments to the Constitution, scheduled for February 27, are not planned to be opened, spokesman for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Anatoly Glaz said on Wednesday, BelTA informs.

The diplomat explained that, according to the electoral code, polling stations outside the country are formed by the heads of foreign missions, taking into account several factors, including the number of citizens registered with the consular office and the epidemiological situation. To date, according to him, "more than a third of foreign missions did not form sections due to the small number of citizens who are on consular records." And in Lithuania and Latvia, due to the actions of the Belarusian neighbors, in principle, there is not enough staff to ensure the operation of the site.

At the same time, the official representative of the Foreign Ministry called ensuring the safety of both voting citizens, as well as members of the commission, diplomats and employees of a foreign institution, an absolute priority in organizing voting. Many missions have made the decision not to put the health of staff and voters at risk due to the dramatic change in the epidemiological situation in host countries.

In addition, Glaz recalled that during the previous election campaign, members of election commissions and employees of foreign institutions received numerous threats, actions of a hooligan and extremist nature were organized.

"It would be very naive to believe that the heads of our missions will turn a blind eye to the egregious facts of the completely negligent attitude of a number of EU countries to their duties to ensure the security of diplomatic missions," he said, recalling that only from August 2020 to December 2021 more than 20 acts of aggression against Belarusian diplomats. Foreign institutions of the country in the UK, Poland, France, Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ukraine and Lithuania were also attacked.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry also drew attention to the fact that "with rare exceptions, the authorities of the host countries did not prosecute the perpetrators, and sometimes did not even look for them. It is clear that this is either the inability or unwillingness of individual EU countries to fulfill their own, one might say, sacred obligations," the ministry said.

On the other hand, Minsk made it clear that the measures taken in no way impede the constitutional right of Belarusian citizens to take part in the upcoming referendum. "Those who are temporarily abroad will be able to vote at the place of registration in the republic, and those permanently residing abroad with a PP series passport - at the polling station at the place of temporary registration or place of last residence in Belarus.

The diplomat recalled that "there are no restrictions for citizens of Belarus when entering the country both through land and air checkpoints, and a PCR test is not required for entry."

Want to know more about the Union State? Subscribe to our news on social networks.

bbabo.Net