Belarus has expelled Sweden’s ambassador for being “too supportive of human rights”, it is claimed.

Children from Chernobyl will be able to spend Christmas in Ireland after an agreement was reached with the Belarus Government.

The head of Chernobyl Aid Ireland, Eoin Ryan MEP, is to meet with the Belarus ambassador to the EU in Brussels tomorrow to discuss easing travel arrangements for the children of Chernobyl who want to visit Ireland.

DIPLOMATIC efforts are under way to get Belarus to lift a threatened ban on children affected by the Chernobyl disaster from travelling to Ireland for holidays.

EUROPEAN election monitors have declared that presidential elections in Belarus were flawed, but fear of brutal response from authorities makes a repeat of Ukraine’s Orange revolution look unlikely.