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France's ambassador has been ordered out of Belarus and has already left the country, Euronews reports, citing the French embassy in Minsk.

The embassy did not say why the ambassador, Nicolas de Bouillane, had been told to leave by the Belarusian foreign ministry.

"Ambassador Nicolas de Lacoste left Belarus today," said an embassy spokesperson.

According to Belarusian media, the ambassador was expelled because he never presented his credentials to President Alexander Lukashenko.

In a message on its website, the French Embassy in Belarus said that the diplomat had presented "the figurative copy of his credentials" to Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei last December.

"The Belarusian foreign ministry has requested that the ambassador leave before October 18," the spokeswoman said.

France, like other EU countries, has not recognised the results of last August's presidential election, which granted Lukashenko a sixth term despite widespread reports of electoral fraud.

The European Union and the United States adopted a series of sanctions against the Belarusian regime after a brutal crackdown against Lukashenko's opponents.

Belarus has also recently severed relations with other Western countries.

In March, it expelled all Latvian embassy staff, including the ambassador, because the Latvian authorities had used the Belarusian opposition flag at an ice hockey championship.

And in August, Minsk withdrew its agreement for the appointment of American ambassador Julie Fisher, who was confirmed in December as the first US envoy to the country since 2008.