A visit to the Baltic States and Belarus in the sights.

French President Emmanuel Macron began his tour of the Baltic States on Monday September 28 in Lithuania.

He said he was ready to meet Belarusian opponent Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, who has fled to Lithuania, if she so requests.

One of the latter's advisers said she wanted the French president to weigh on the negotiations in the crisis the country is going through.

The candidate for the united front of the opposition in the presidential election of August 9 in Belarus took refuge in Lithuania two days after the controversial election which re-elected Alexander Lukashenko as head of the country.

"This is an important trip (...) in a context of tense international relations," French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said during a press briefing following the Council of Ministers.

"There is an even more urgent objective for this visit, it is obviously the resolution of the crisis in Belarus," he continued.

"If she so requests, the President of the Republic will meet with her on the occasion of her trip," he added in response to a question.

First French President in the Baltic States since 2001

In Vilnius, the opponent's advisor said she had expressed her willingness to meet with the French president.

"We sent a letter to Macron's services indicating that we wanted to meet with him. We are awaiting confirmation and we will be very happy to meet him during his visit to Vilnius," Franak Viacorka told Reuters.

Emmanuel Macron, the first French president to visit the Baltic States since Jacques Chirac in 2001, is expected Monday afternoon in Vilnius.

He will also go to Latvia.

In an interview with the Journal du dimanche, Emmanuel Macron estimated that the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, reelected under contested conditions on August 9, should accept the logic of democracy and leave power.

"It is clear that Lukashenko must leave", said the French president.

With Reuters

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