Foreign minister won't go to Minsk after Brussels cancels visit

After the European Union's diplomatic service has cancelled its planned visit to Minsk, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius will not go to Belarus either, diplomats said on Thursday.

"The European External Action Service has cancelled the high-level visit to Minsk," Rasa Jakilaitiene, the minister's spokeswoman, told BNS.

Linkevicius planned to take part in a meeting of EU Eastern Partnership ministers in Belarus later this week.

The Lithuanian government has recently taken steps to establish a closer dialog with Belarus' authorities, a position criticized by the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats, the biggest opposition party in the parliament.