The 27 leaders of the European Union do not recognize the Belarusian election results due to widespread allegations of electoral fraud, European Council president Charles Michel said on Wednesday.
Brussels/Minsk -
Speaking after the meeting, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hinted the European Union would support Lukashenko stepping down."We are ready to accompany peaceful democratic transition of power in Belarus," she said.Belarus' opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya also condemned the election, which placed her second to long-time authoritarian leader Lukashenko, as falsified.
Demonstrations first broke out more than a week ago, immediately after the election. Thousands of protesters have been arrested, with many of those freed claiming to have been mistreated in detention. Three protesters have died, according to media reports. "Before pointing a finger at us, they should put on the agenda of their meetings the yellow vests in France and the terrible riots in the US," Lukashenko said in comments carried by state news agency BelTA.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Wednesday rejected Lukashenko's accusations that Poland was interfering in Belarusian affairs, after the Belarusian president had ordered the army to deploy on his country's western border. In his invitation letter, Michel had also warned of outside interference in a likely nod to Belarus' ally Russia.
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