Before the video summit of EU heads of state and government on the situation in Belarus, opposition politician Svetlana Tichanovskaya called on the EU not to recognize the result of the presidential election in her country ten days ago.
The allegedly re-elected, authoritarian ruling head of state Alexander Lukashenko has „lost all legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world,“ said Tichanovskaya in a video message from her exile in Lithuania.
„I appeal to you not to recognize this fraudulent election,“ Tichanovskaya said to the EU heads of state and government. These are today at a video summit with the controversial election of August 9th.
EU: choice „neither free nor fair“
According to the official election results, Lukashenko had around 80 percent of the vote, while Tichanovskaya only received around ten percent. The Belarusian opposition accuses Lukashenko of serious electoral fraud. The EU also called the vote “neither free nor fair”. The British government has already announced that it will not accept the result.
For a week and a half there have been mass protests in Belarus, during which the demonstrators demand Lukashenko’s resignation. Tichanovskaya fled to Lithuania in view of the sometimes brutal actions taken by the security forces against peaceful demonstrators.
