Belarus declared on Friday that Europe's top rights watchdog would no longer be able to work in the country, after the organisation condemned the conduct of this month's presidential election. Minsk saw largescale protests over the December 19 vote, which handed a fourth term in office to 56-year-old Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko is accused by Western leaders of ruling with an iron fist and leading a crackdown on independent media.
"The Belarussian side has taken the decision not to continue the operations of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) office in Minsk," said foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Savinykh. OSCE monitors said the poll was flawed and condemned a police crackdown on some 10,000 protesters who marched down Minsk's broad avenue to protest against alleged vote-rigging. "The evaluation of the OSCE's activities in Minsk shows that the OSCE has fulfilled its mandate," Savinykh said.