© REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
Historical white-red-white flags of Belarus are seen as people attend an opposition demonstration to protest against presidential election results, in Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus August 18, 2020.
The European Union no longer recognises the presidency of Alexander Lukashenko, the recently re-elected leader of Belarus, as of Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Lukashenko has taken steps to actively suppress the ongoing protests that have been calling for his resignation since 24 May, at the start of Lukashenko's election campaign.
The decision came following a
special video conference gathering all of the EU's state leaders. According to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel,
the EU delegitimised Lukashenko because it finds that the presidential elections of 14 August were unfair.
"The European Union stands in solidarity with the people of Belarus. And we don't accept impunity," Michel said. "This is about the right of the people to freely elect their leadership."
"We stand with you in your desire for justice and a peaceful, democratic future."
The Commission's council
announced that top figures in the Belarus regime that were involved in violence against protestors and election fraud will be sanctioned in the near future. Currently, Belarus as a whole is already under a series of EU sanctions,
including the export of goods that can be used for oppression.
Comment: The EU's Commissioner for Internal Markets, Thierry Breton, said that sanctions will "no doubt" be reinforced, but that Russia will be taken into account -
acknowledging that Belarus isn't European, but intimately tied to Russia. Foreign policy chief Borrell
says Lukashenko "lacks democratic legitimacy". (The EU is comprised of unelected bureaucrats.) The sanctions will reportedly
target all those "responsible for violence, repression & falsification of election results", a "substantial number" of penalties, according to Michel.
Russian FM Lavrov's
response is on point:
"We are concerned about [foreign] attempts to use the internal difficulties that Belarus, the Belarusian people, and the Belarusian leadership are currently facing," said the foreign minister, highlighting that outside forces are attempting to interfere with the country in order to impose a situation that could be profitable for them, but not for Belarusians.
Focusing on statements from EU members, Lavrov suggested that Western countries want to impose their own rules across the continent and in other parts of the world too.
"What we are now hearing from European capitals - first from the Baltics, and then from Poland, and the European Parliament - is not about [Belarusian President] Alexander Lukashenko, human rights and democracy, but all about geopolitics," Lavrov explained.
Russia's chief diplomat called on Belarusians to sort out their issues independently and to reject the idea that the country has to choose between partnering with Russia and partnering with Europe. He expressed the hope that the country's citizens will not be led by those who need Belarus for purely selfish reasons.
The Russian official noted that the Belarusian elections were not "perfect," but clarified that the Belarusian leadership was well aware of that and its authorities are "trying to enter into dialogue with citizens protesting against what they consider an infringement of their rights."
See also:
Comment: The EU's Commissioner for Internal Markets, Thierry Breton, said that sanctions will "no doubt" be reinforced, but that Russia will be taken into account - acknowledging that Belarus isn't European, but intimately tied to Russia. Foreign policy chief Borrell says Lukashenko "lacks democratic legitimacy". (The EU is comprised of unelected bureaucrats.) The sanctions will reportedly target all those "responsible for violence, repression & falsification of election results", a "substantial number" of penalties, according to Michel.
Russian FM Lavrov's response is on point: See also: