German diplomat meets with religious figures in Hrodna, commemorates Holocaust

July 1, Pozirk. Germany’s Chargé d’Affaires to Belarus Kathrin aus dem Siepen visited Hrodna to meet with Catholic, Protestant and Jewish activists.

Aus dem Siepen also visited a company “connected to Germany”, the German embassy said. “The laying of flowers at a monument near the entrance to a former ghetto was a particularly touching moment for us,” the embassy said.

The visit was one of “meetings, dialogue and memory,” it added.

On June 16, aus dem Siepen met with survivors of ghettos, concentration camps, the Second World War and the Holocaust at a reception hosted by the German embassy.

The reception came a day after state television channels broadcast a controversial interview in which Alaksandar Łukašenka appeared to downplay the Holocaust.

Katrin aus dem Siepen took over as head of the German embassy in Belarus in October 2025. Most European Union countries downgraded their diplomatic presence in Belarus amid a brutal crackdown on Łukašenka’s opponents following the 2020 presidential election. Hungary and Slovakia are the only two EU countries represented in Belarus by ambassadors, while the other embassies are headed by chargés d’affaires.

EU diplomatic missions have kept a low profile in recent years with very few public events and even fewer interviews. Western diplomats have been in the crosshairs of the state propaganda with scathing media reports about them and relentless psychological harassment during rare public appearances.

Politics

Politics

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