Latvia's Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said on Wednesday he spoke with Belarusian ex-presidential candidate from the opposition Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and called for a new election in Belarus
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th August, 2020) Latvia's Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said on Wednesday he spoke with Belarusian ex-presidential candidate from the opposition Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and called for a new election in Belarus.
"Had a good call with Belarusian opposition candidate Svetlana #Tikhanovskaya, reaffirmed Latvia's support to the people of #Belarus, we call for the immediate release of all political prisoners and new free and fair elections with international observers present," Rinkevics wrote on Twitter.
The Baltic states have been the bulwark of the European reaction to the developments in Belarus. Tikhanoskaya left Belarus for neighboring Lithuania soon after the August 9 presidential election in the country.
Earlier in the week, Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins demanded to change the venue of the 2021 Hockey World Championship, which Latvia and Belarus were slated to jointly host.
Earlier in the day, Tikhanovskaya announced the formation of a coordination council to facilitate the peaceful transfer of power.
Belarus has been engulfed in unrest after the contentious election earlier this month. Official results showed that longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth-term with over 80 percent of the vote. The opposition, coalesced around unlikely contender Tikhanovskaya, disputed the result and has been taking to the streets daily since.
Early into the rallies, the security forces utilized tear gas, water cannons, stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters, but the heavy use of force has since subsided.
According to official data, more than 6,700 people were detained in the early days of the unrest. Hundreds of others have been injured during the riots, including more than 150 law enforcement officers, and three protesters have died.
