MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th August, 2020) The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, on Friday has called on Minsk to guarantee the political rights of all electoral candidates as early voting continues in the country's presidential election.
Opposition protesters held multiple demonstrations in Belarus in the lead up to the country's presidential election and two candidates, Viktor Babariko and Valery Tsepkalo, were barred from running. Thousands of people attended a protest on Thursday evening in Minsk as early voting continues.
"The EU appeals to the Belarusian authorities to guarantee the exercise of full political rights of the candidates, to avoid using force against peaceful protesters, to refrain from further detentions of elections observers, peaceful protesters, candidates and members of their teams and immediately release all activists, human rights defenders, bloggers and journalists detained on political grounds," Borrell wrote in a statement.
The Belarusian people have demonstrated an "unprecedented political mobilisation" in support of free and fair elections, the EU's foreign policy chief added.
Early voting in the Belarusian presidential election began earlier this week. Four opposition candidates are competing against incumbent Alexander Lukashenko, and polling stations are scheduled to close on Sunday.
The turnout throughout the first three days of early voting has been registered at 22.47 percent, the Belarusian Central Election Commission said on Friday.
