ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th August, 2020) Ivan Scalfarotto, the Italian undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, expressed on Thursday concerns over the situation in Belarus and urged the country's authorities to immediately stop violence and initiate a dialogue with the opposition.
Scalfarotto's remarks come ahead of an extraordinary meeting of the EU foreign ministers called to discuss the potential of levying sanctions on Minsk amid protests in Belarus.
"The government's repression must be stopped immediately, and the end of violence must be followed by the beginning of a dialogue with the opposition and civil society," Scalfarotto said in a statement obtained by Sputnik.
According to him, the European Union cannot remain indifferent to violations of human rights and freedoms.
Earlier in the day, EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on Minsk to prevent force being used against protesters and to release all those who had been detained in the demonstrations to date.
People have been on the streets in Belarus since Sunday evening, when the election results showed incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko secure his sixth term with over 80 percent of the vote.
The demonstrations have been harshly suppressed by the security forces, with law enforcement officers using tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters. Thousands of people were arrested and many journalists, both domestic and foreign, went missing.
