The European Council, which held a meeting today on the crisis in Belarus, unanimously declared the presidential elections held on 9 August invalid and demanded that they be repeated. Further demonstrations against President Lukashenko’s regime are expected to be held tonight in Minsk and other Belarusian cities.
The European Council does not recognise the results of the presidential elections in Belarus and calls for them to be repeated. The leaders of the European countries which took part in the virtual summit dedicated to Belarus also called on the authorities in Minsk to stop the violence against the participants of civil protests. The European Council and some member states, including Germany, thanked Poland for a quick reaction in regards to Belarus.
Earlier, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, an opposition candidate considered to be the winner of the 9 August election, posted another video on social media in which she appealed to European leaders not to recognise the result of the presidential election and help Belarusians to fight for their rights.
“Honourable leaders of Europe, for the second week in a row my nation is fighting peacefully for its constitutional right to elect its leaders. The August 9th elections were neither fair nor transparent. The results were falsified. People who went out to defend their vote in the streets of their cities all across Belarus were brutally beaten, imprisoned and tortured by the regime desperately clinging on to power. Hundreds were injured, at least two people lost their lives. This is taking place right now in the middle of Europe”, said Sviatlana, who was forced to leave the country following the elections, fearing for the life of her children after Lukashenko-controlled services threatened to hurt them if she hadn’t left.
Tsikhanouskaya called on the international community not to recognise Alexander Lukashenko as President of Belarus, stressing that her country needs help from outside like never before.
“I call on you not to recognize these fraudulent elections. Mr. Lukashenko has lost all legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world. In order to facilitate a peaceful transition of power in my country, I have initiated the National Coordination Council of Belarus. It will lead the process of peaceful transition of power via dialogue. It will immediately call for new and fair democratic Presidential elections with international supervision. Honourable leaders of Europe, I call on you to support the awakening of Belarus. I call on all countries to respect the principles of international law. I call to respect the sovereignty of Belarus and the choice of Belarusian people”, she added.
Meanwhile, Alexander Lukashenko continues to strongly reject any dialogue with the opposition and accuses the West of interfering in the internal affairs of Belarus.
“Some western countries’ representatives made statements, including some countries’ leaders who do not actually know where Belarus is and what is really going on here”, commented Lukashenko.
Today, a 43-year-old Brest citizen who was shot and wounded during the protests on 11 August, died in a hospital in Minsk. The man is the third fatal victim of the demonstrations in Belarus. According to independent media, another demonstration against Lukashenko’s regime is planned for tonight in Minsk.