EU does not recognise August 9th elections, sanctions against Belarus will be imposed

The European Union announced today that it does not recognise the results of presidential elections held in Belarus on 9 August.

The EU states it will soon impose sanctions on those involved in electoral fraud and the crackdown on protests, European Council President Charles Michel said.

He said at the end of the extraordinary meeting of EU leaders that sanctions would be imposed on a specific number of individuals responsible for violence, oppression and election fraud, Reuters reports.

In the elections held on August 9th, President Alexander Lukashenko announced victory by about 80 per cent of the vote, while his main opponent, Svetlana Tikhanovska, won about 10 per cent of the vote.