The EU does not recognize the result of the presidential election in Belarus, Council President Charles Michel and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday after an extraordinary summit of 27 EU leaders.
Assuring that the Union was "on the side" of the people of this country, Charles Michel added that the EU would "soon" take sanctions against a "substantial" number of leaders of the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, responsible for "violence. , repression and electoral fraud ”. "We strongly support the right of the Belarusian people to determine their own destiny," insisted Charles Michel, affirming the unity of the 27 on the subject after their meeting by videoconference.
Belarusians "know what they want"
Chancellor Merkel stressed that Belarusians had to "find their own way", before calling for a national dialogue including Alexander Lukashenko. “People in Belarus know what they want (…) This is why we want an independent way for Belarus where the political conditions are decided by the country itself” in a “peaceful and dialogue” way, she added. She also revealed that Lukashenko did not wish to speak with her on the phone.
Asked whether the EU was advocating a new election, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen replied that it was the people themselves who were asking for a new "free and fair" ballot. "We support the Belarusian people to choose the path they want to follow," she added.
Towards a new election?
For his part, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki declared at the end of the EU summit that a new presidential election should take place, believing that that of August 9 "could not be considered as fair, free and democratic" .
He added that at Poland's request, the 27 had agreed to involve international organizations such as the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), "in order to possibly also be able to support the democratization process, for example by supervising the preparation of the next elections, if the situation evolves in this way ”.
The 27 European leaders met by videoconference for an extraordinary summit on the crisis in Belarus, on the 11th day of protests in that country. Just before the meeting, Belarusian opposition figurehead Svetlana Tikhanovskaya urged the EU 27 to reject the results of the August 9 presidential election, which she described as "fraudulent".
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- EU
- World
- Alexander Lukashenko
- Belarus