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| - Belarus on Tuesday expelled a Polish consul after expressing "strong protest" over his participation in an event dedicated to Poland's "cursed soldiers" who fought against both German and Soviet occupation during World War II. "The heroisation of war criminals is for us completely unacceptable," the foreign ministry of ex-Soviet Belarus said in a statement explaining its decision to expel Jerzy Timofejuk, the Polish Consul in the southwestern city of Brest. According to the ministry, Timofejuk took part in an "unofficial event" in Brest on February 28 that was attended by "representatives of non-governmental and youth organisation with links to Poland". Resistance battalions that fought against Nazi German occupation during WWII, known as the Polish "cursed soldiers", later turned against the Soviet occupation, often acting violently against those who were not Poles, especially Belarusians. In Poland, the Day of Cursed Soldiers has been commemorated every March 1 since 2011. "The Belarusian side does not and has never questioned the possibility and importance of the interaction between diplomats and their own diaspora," the foreign ministry statement said. It added that in Belarus "the instigation of racial, national, religious hatred... and the rehabilitation of Nazism is a crime". Relations between Belarus and its neighbour Poland have been strained after protests broke out in August against the re-election of Belarus strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko. EU member nation Poland has sheltered Belarusian activists that have fled across the border to escape a crackdown on the opposition. bur-acl/dl
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