{"id":198152,"date":"2026-08-01T09:56:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T06:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T09:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T06:58:09","slug":"uk-charge-daffaires-william-longhurst-presents-his-credentials-to-belarus-foreign-minister","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Charge d\u2019Affaires William Longhurst presents his credentials to Belarus\u2019 foreign minister"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid.jpg 960w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(MFA)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>August<\/strong><strong> 1, <\/strong><strong><em>Pozirk<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><strong> <\/strong>William Longhurst, charge d\u2019affaires en titre at the UK embassy in Minsk, presented his credentials to Foreign Minister Maksim Ry\u017eanko\u016d on July 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The UK downgraded its diplomatic presence in Belarus to charge d\u2019affaires after the departure of Ambassador Jacqueline Perkins in August 2024 amid tensions between the two countries over allegations of human rights abuses and Belarus\u2019 support for Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Longhurst joined the diplomatic service in 1990. He had held overseas posts in South Korea, Japan, the United States and Serbia. From 2014 to 2018, he served as UK ambassador to Cambodia. Before his appointment to Belarus, he was deputy head of mission in Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His foreign languages include Serbian, German and Russian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"195\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Longhurst_mid_britanii.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">London appoints new charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires in Belarus<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">June 16, Pozirk. William Longhurst will take over as charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires at the British embassy in Minsk in July, succeeding David Ward, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office says. Ward became the charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires in October 2024, after Jacqueline &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/192095\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read <\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>August 1, Pozirk. William Longhurst, charge d\u2019affaires en titre at the UK embassy in Minsk, presented his credentials to Foreign Minister Maksim Ry\u017eanko\u016d on July 31. The UK downgraded its diplomatic presence in Belarus to charge d\u2019affaires after the departure of Ambassador Jacqueline Perkins in August 2024 amid tensions between the two countries over allegations [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":198105,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-198152","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UK Charge d\u2019Affaires William Longhurst presents his credentials to Belarus\u2019 foreign minister | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"August 1, Pozirk. William Longhurst, charge d\u2019affaires en titre at the UK embassy in Minsk, presented his credentials to Foreign Minister Maksim Ry\u017eanko\u016d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK Charge d\u2019Affaires William Longhurst presents his credentials to Belarus\u2019 foreign minister | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"August 1, Pozirk. William Longhurst, charge d\u2019affaires en titre at the UK embassy in Minsk, presented his credentials to Foreign Minister Maksim Ry\u017eanko\u016d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-01T06:58:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/\"},\"headline\":\"UK Charge d\u2019Affaires William Longhurst presents his credentials to Belarus\u2019 foreign minister\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-01T06:56:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-01T06:58:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/\"},\"wordCount\":131,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/\",\"name\":\"UK Charge d\u2019Affaires William Longhurst presents his credentials to Belarus\u2019 foreign minister | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-01T06:56:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-01T06:58:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"August 1, Pozirk. William Longhurst, charge d\u2019affaires en titre at the UK embassy in Minsk, presented his credentials to Foreign Minister Maksim Ry\u017eanko\u016d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":640},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UK Charge d\u2019Affaires William Longhurst presents his credentials to Belarus\u2019 foreign minister\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Pozirk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UK Charge d\u2019Affaires William Longhurst presents his credentials to Belarus\u2019 foreign minister | Pozirk","description":"August 1, Pozirk. William Longhurst, charge d\u2019affaires en titre at the UK embassy in Minsk, presented his credentials to Foreign Minister Maksim Ry\u017eanko\u016d","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UK Charge d\u2019Affaires William Longhurst presents his credentials to Belarus\u2019 foreign minister | Pozirk","og_description":"August 1, Pozirk. William Longhurst, charge d\u2019affaires en titre at the UK embassy in Minsk, presented his credentials to Foreign Minister Maksim Ry\u017eanko\u016d","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-08-01T06:58:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/"},"headline":"UK Charge d\u2019Affaires William Longhurst presents his credentials to Belarus\u2019 foreign minister","datePublished":"2026-08-01T06:56:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-01T06:58:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/"},"wordCount":131,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/","name":"UK Charge d\u2019Affaires William Longhurst presents his credentials to Belarus\u2019 foreign minister | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-01T06:56:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-01T06:58:09+00:00","description":"August 1, Pozirk. William Longhurst, charge d\u2019affaires en titre at the UK embassy in Minsk, presented his credentials to Foreign Minister Maksim Ry\u017eanko\u016d","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid.jpg","width":960,"height":640},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198152\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UK Charge d\u2019Affaires William Longhurst presents his credentials to Belarus\u2019 foreign minister"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","name":"Pozirk","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization","name":"Pozirk","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Pozirk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/198152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rubric","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rubric?post=198152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}