MOSCOW/BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th August, 2020) Leading European politicians and officials have voiced their concern over the use of force by Belarusian law enforcement officers and security services personnel as the conclusion of the country's presidential election on Sunday was marred by violent protests.
According to the latest data provided by the Belarusian Central Election Commission, incumbent Alexander Lukashenko surged to a landslide victory, garnering just over 80 percent of the vote.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya finished in second place with roughly 10 percent, although the opposition candidate has reportedly filed a complaint with the electoral commission over the results of the presidential vote.
As polling stations closed, thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the election result. Police and security services reportedly used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protesters, and the country's Interior Ministry announced on Monday that roughly 3,000 people were detained over the election weekend.
Reporters from multiple media outlets, including Sputnik Belarus, were detained during the evening as they attempted to cover the protests in Minsk. Two journalists and a cameraman working for Russia's Dozhd broadcaster, also known as tv Rain, were held and later issued five-year bans from entering Belarus, the channel's editor-in-chief, Tikhon Dzyadko, told Sputnik.
Lukashenko on Monday blamed other countries for inciting the violence. The president first said that the demonstrations were orchestrated by the United Kingdom, Poland, and the Czech Republic, and later added that Russia and Ukraine were also linked to the unrest, as reported by the state-run Belta news agency.
Amid these accusations, European officials have urged the Belarusian authorities to release the results of the election in full and refrain from using force against protesters.
EU SPARKS HOSTILITIES WITH MINSK
As the preliminary results of the presidential vote started to appear on Monday morning, along with footage of the violent crackdown in Minsk overnight, European Union leaders have been quick to criticize the Belarusian authorities.
"Harassment & violent repression of peaceful protesters has no place in Europe. Fundamental rights in #Belarus must be respected. I call on the Belarusian authorities to ensure that the votes in yesterday's election are counted & published accurately," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.
In a written statement, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and neighborhood and enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhelyi called the "state violence" used against protesters "disproportionate" and "unacceptable," adding that all those who were detained during the demonstrations should be released immediately.
Borrell and Varhelyi also called on Belarus' electoral commission to publish the full, transparent results of the vote, adding that the country's people "now expect their votes to be counted accurately."
Officials from individual EU member states have been more direct in their criticism of the voting process. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert accused Belarus of not meeting basic electoral standards, in a statement given on Monday.
"Obviously, the presidential election there [in Belarus] did not adhere to the minimal standards of the democratic elections, we consider this unacceptable," Seibert said.
Following the night of protests, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki proposed calling an urgent EU summit to discuss the force used against protesters in Belarus, according to a statement published by his office.
"Poland takes responsibility for its closest neighbors. So, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called on European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in a letter, to convene an urgent summit of European Council to discuss the events in Belarus," Morawiecki's office said in a statement.
Carlo Fidanza, a member of the European Parliament from Italy's Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, told Sputnik that he fully supports the Polish prime minister's calls for a bloc-wide summit to discuss the ongoing situation in Belarus.
"I fully agree with Polish PM Morawiecki about the request for an extraordinary summit condemning the use of force by Lukashenko agents," the Italian lawmaker said.
Alongside an EU summit, Fidanza called for an international inquiry in order to verify the results of the election and ensure the rights of Belarus' opposition politicians.
"I hope for an independent international inquiry in order to verify the real results of the elections and ensure the civil rights of the democratic opposition," the lawmaker said.
Expressing his concern over the current situation in Minsk, Fidanza said that the widespread public unrest has shown that the country is highly divided, despite the apparent landslide victory for Lukashenko at the polls.
"Despite the self-proclaimed huge majority, the country is deeply divided and the protests are raising for the lack of transparency and the hard repression. The chance for the opposition to peacefully show its disagreement is the real difference between a democracy and a dictatorship," the FdI lawmaker remarked.
Speaking on Monday, Lukashenko said that law enforcement agents acted "gently" in attempting to disperse demonstrators at the unsanctioned protests, adding that a police officer was attacked, as quoted by the Belta agency.
The president was also quoted as saying that the Belarusian people will be the first priority for his next term in office, as the country looks to move forward following weeks of public unrest.
EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS DENY STOKING PUBLIC FERVOR
After Lukashenko accused other countries of provoking the waves of protest seen in Belarus in the run-up to the election, as well as the violence seen on Sunday evening, European governments have denied involvement.
On Monday, Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek refuted the allegations, saying that the country and its agencies have nothing to do with organizing the protests. His Polish counterpart, Jacek Czaputowicz, issued a similar statement, calling the accusations "groundless."
James Duddridge, a minister at the UK's Foreign Office, condemned the use of violence against protesters but did not refer to Lukashenko's claims that London played a role in organizing the protests.
Speaking to Sputnik, Steven Woolfe, a former member of the European Parliament and UK Independence Party, said that Western countries have a track record of trying to interfere in nations such as Belarus.
"History has taught us that the West has often interfered in the elections and the selection of government officials and leaders throughout the past 100 years ... It is clear that we know through history and through modern practice that the demonstrations we are seeing across the world against nations like Belarus are often backed by the NGOs that are funded by the state or by the people who are liked by the US or Europe to interfere in those countries," Woolfe said.
Lukashenko on Monday stated that despite the current public unrest, there would be no "Maidan" in Belarus, making reference to the Ukrainian protest movement that led to the ouster of then-President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
Following the release of the preliminary results of Sunday's vote, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan all congratulated Lukashenko on being reelected.
The same support has yet to arrive from European Union countries, and the Polish foreign minister has publicly stated that the bloc should even consider imposing sanctions on Belarus.
Following Sunday's protests, Minsk police have begun detaining alleged participants of an opposition rally due to be held at the Minsk Hero City Obelisk on Monday evening, a Sputnik correspondent at the scene reported.
The unrest in Belarus, at least for Monday evening, does not appear to be subsiding.
