The EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss the ongoing matter of sanctions on those involved in the recent election in Belarus, as well as ways to exert more pressure on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, during an informal meeting in Berlin later on Thursday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2020) The EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss the ongoing matter of sanctions on those involved in the recent election in Belarus, as well as ways to exert more pressure on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, during an informal meeting in Berlin later on Thursday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.
"We see that Lukashenko is pressing peaceful demonstrators and the opposition. We must discuss today how we can increase pressure on Lukashenko. We have already decided to impose sanctions against individuals who participated in election fraud and crimes against peaceful demonstrators. Nothing has changed since then, and we must proceed from the fact that the harshness of Lukashenko's actions has increased even more," Maas said during a television broadcast by ZDF.
Mass opposition protests broke out across Belarus following a presidential election on August 9 that saw Lukashenko reelected for a sixth term. While electoral authorities maintain that Lukashenko collected over 80 percent of the vote, the opposition continues to insist that his key contender, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, won the election.
Over 6,700 people have been detained in Belarus during the first several days of the protests alone, according to official figures, and hundreds have been injured, including more than 150 law enforcement officers.
