Belarus needs new presidential elections, which were not democratic, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius said on August 12.
“We need to look at the criteria. If at the previous elections there were 90 observers from Western countries, now there was no one at all. They were invited late, as it turns out, the Internet did not work, ”Linkevicius said on the radio station Echo of Moscow, speaking about the presidential elections in Belarus.
He noted that journalists could not work normally either, since many did not have accreditation, some were even deported.
According to him, the election process can hardly be called democratic, the consequences and results of this process are also questionable, so it is difficult to recognize them.
“Two competitors are in prison, two presidential candidates. I think it is possible to list further, but this is already enough, ”Linkevicius said.
Therefore, if the dialogue with Western countries and cooperation with the European Union is important for Belarus, then it is necessary to “observe the norms”, “violence must be avoided,” this is not in the interests of the authorities, concluded the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The presidential elections in Belarus were held on August 9. According to the CEC, the head of state, Alexander Lukashenko, is gaining 80.08%, followed by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya with 10.09%. The headquarters of Tikhanovskaya said that they did not recognize the results of the CEC, noting that data from polling stations in all regions of the republic showed that she had gained 70-80%. Unauthorized protests began in a number of cities in Belarus.
A number of countries expressed doubts about the fair results of the past elections.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on August 12, at a press conference after the end of talks in Prague with Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babis, said that he doubted the outcome of the elections in Belarus and called for civil activists to ensure the right to freedom of expression.
The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, also said on August 11 that the presidential elections in Belarus were neither free nor fair, and that the state authorities used disproportionate and unacceptable violence.
German Cabinet spokesman Steffen Seibert condemned the use of force against protesters in Minsk. The presidential elections were neither free nor fair, he said.