Former Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko published a video message to President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. The video appeared on August 12 on Poroshenko’s Facebook page.
According to him, Belarus and its people will always be traditional friends and partners of Ukraine. The people of this country are sincere, peaceful and decent, Poroshenko stressed.
“A democratic and stable, prosperous and independent Belarus is one of the key elements of the security and prosperity of Ukraine,” he added. As the former Ukrainian leader added, he cannot remain silent when a neighboring state “slides into a whirlpool of chaos.”
According to Poroshenko, the country’s authorities must respond to the requests of the Belarusian society, striving for democratic changes. There is no place for violence and repression in the modern world, the politician added.
The former president of Ukraine said that the Belarusian authorities must immediately stop the violence and any incitement to it. They are also obliged to release political prisoners and peaceful protesters and stop persecuting political opponents.
Poroshenko also called on the country’s authorities, together with partners in the “Lublin Triangle” (Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland), to appoint a special representative for Belarus, who could help resolve the situation in the country.
On August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus, during which the incumbent head of state Alexander Lukashenko gained 80.08% of the vote, opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was supported by 10.09% of voters. Tikhanovskaya’s headquarters did not recognize the results of the vote.
After the announcement of the preliminary results, unauthorized protests began in Minsk and other cities of Belarus, which resumed in the evening on August 10 and 11. Both civilians and security forces suffered, one person died.