BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th July, 2020) EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell criticized Belarus on Tuesday for barred two presidential hopefuls from challenging the incumbent in next month's election.
The eastern European nation's Central Electoral Commission said that Viktar Babaryka and Valery Tsapkala had been excluded from the race for, respectively, misreporting the income and not having enough valid signatures from voters.
"The seemingly arbitrary exclusion of candidates limits the possibility for the Belarusian people to express their will and already undermines the overall integrity and democratic nature of the elections," Borrell said in a statement.
He added that by removing the opposition candidates from the August 9 race the authorities had "failed to ensure a meaningful and competitive political contest," and again insisted on the presence of OSCE observers at the election.
A spokesman for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry replied that Belarus was an independent country and was not concerned with the opinion of the European Union on how the electoral process should be organized.
