Ten non-European Union nations joined the EU in the action yesterday.The EU decided to retaliate against orders from the Belarusian government that several nations vacate their ambassadors' residences in a diplomatic compound, saying the measures "constitute an infringement of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations."

The EU action prohibits admission of Belarus officials into any of the 15 EU member states, from President Alexander Lukashenko, his cabinet ministers and their deputies to a range of lesser officials including the chairmen of the state patent committee and the state committee for hydrometeorology.

"We continue to be at loggerheads with President Lukashenko and his administration," said British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook.

Joining theEU were Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech republic, Estonia, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Iceland and Norway, who said in a joint statement "they will ensure that their national policies conform to that common position."