Belarus expelled Sweden’s ambassador Friday saying he tried to “destroy” ties with the ex-Soviet state run by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, after a pro-democracy stunt by a Swedish firm.

The move came after Swedish activists illegally flew a plane into Belarus early last month and dropped hundreds of teddy bears attached to little parachutes carrying signs calling for freedom of speech and human rights.

Lukashenko dismissed the country’s top border control official and the top air force commander after the incident orchestrated by a Swedish advertising firm.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt conceded the expulsion could be linked to the widely-reported teddy-bear incident and called it “scandalous”.