9 hours agoKallas: Belarus Presidential Election, “farce”
Periskopi(a year ago)
(a year ago)The European Union's foreign policy chief said today that the recent elections in Belarus were <x0 9.0 a farce. Speaking in Brussels ahead of a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers, Kaya Kallas said she had met with Belarusian opposition leader Svilatana Tsikhanouskaya to discuss Sunday's elections, which she [...] has [...]
Opposition leader Svilatana Tsikhanouskaya, who left Belarus due to the government's pressure after challenging President Lukaschenko in 2020, told the Associated Press news agency that Sunday's elections were “a complete lighthouse, a ritual of Lucas”.
The European Union has rejected the elections, considering them legitimate, and EU officials have threatened Minsk with new sanctions.
The “is used to manipulate elections in Belarus. We are with the Belarusian people. Belarus is high on the agenda of the European Union”, Kaya Kallas, chief foreign policy of the European Union, said.
Opposers of President Lukashenko, many of whom were imprisoned and forced to leave the country due to constant repression and restrictions on freedom of expression, have called the elections legitimate, comparing them with the 2020 elections, which caused unprecedented protests several months in the country of 9 million people.
Independent media have been banned in the former Soviet republic.
According to preliminary results released by the Central Election Commission, President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been the leader of Belarus for 31 years, received 86.6 per cent of the vote in Sunday's presidential election.
While the West described the elections as unfree and unfair, Moscow said today it was celebrating its ally Alexander Lukashenko's victory and dismissed the Western criticisms, saying they were the predictable “”.
EU foreign policy chief Kaya Kallas praised US President Donald Trump for pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
“We also discussed the situation in Ukraine. I expect a continuation of sanctions against Russia. Of course it's a good thing American President Donald Trump is putting pressure on Russia, saying that the outcome of the war is in their hands”, She said.
Western countries have repeatedly imposed sanctions against the Lukashenko regime and do not consider it a legitimate president of the country.
Due to the consequences of these sanctions, the Lucas regime has approached Russia, allowing President Vladimir Putin to use his territory to deploy Russian troops and organise attacks against Ukraine. / VOA
