![[ rfe/rl banner ]](rferl-article2.gif)
European Parliament Rejects Belarusian Vote Results; Lukashenka Announces Border Closures
By Rikard Jozwiak September 17, 2020
The European Parliament has overwhelmingly passed a resolution rejecting Alyaksandr Lukashenka as the country's president once his current term of office expires in November, rejecting the results of an election last month that the opposition and the West have called rigged.
The nonbinding text, which was supported on September 17 by 574 EU lawmakers, with 37 voting against and 82 abstaining, also calls for "new, free, and fair elections to take place as soon as possible under international supervision."
"Once the term of office for the incumbent authoritarian leader [Alyaksandr Lukashenka] expires on 5 November, parliament will no longer recognize him as the president of the country," the European Parliament said in a statement.
Following the vote, Lukashenka said that he does not need a new election to be recognized.
"We held the election in accordance with the constitution, laws of our country, and do not need any recognition. The election took place, and it is lawful," Lukashenka told a women's forum in Minsk on September 17.
The embattled strongman, who has been running Belarus for 26 years, said that he had been forced to close the country's border with EU neighbors Poland and Lithuania, and also to strengthen its border controls with neighboring Ukraine.
Lukashenka claimed that he dispatched "half the army" to increase security on the country's western border.
"We had to take troops off the streets. Like I said already: Put half the army on alert and close the state border with the West, primarily with Lithuania and Poland. Regrettably, we had to strengthen the state border with our fraternal Ukraine," Lukashenka said.
Belarus's Foreign Ministry described the EU resolution as "a blatant interference in Belarusian affairs, a brazen and cynical one, no matter how much they are disguising it by employing musings about democracy."
EU member states are currently working on visa bans and asset freezes against Belarusian officials whom the 27-nation bloc sees as responsible for a crackdown in response to mass protests since the August 9 election. The demonstrations have posed the biggest threat yet to Lukashenka and his attempts to extend his 26-year rule.
According to sources close to the work on sanctions, Lukashenka will not be listed initially, but the European Parliament has called for his inclusion and is asking member states to look into the possibility of including Russian citizens who are directly involved in supporting the regime in Minsk on the sanctions list.
Moscow's backing has become crucial for Lukashenka's survival as president, and the Kremlin has accused the West of seeking a revolution in the country.
Other suggestions in the European Parliament resolution are the establishment of a donors' conference for a "democratic Belarus, bringing together international financial institutions, G7 countries, EU member states and institutions" and to push for the withdrawal of the decision by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to hold the 2021 World Ice Hockey Championship partially in Belarus, "until the situation and, in particular, the state of human rights in the country have improved."
The text also encourages EU member states "to facilitate and accelerate the establishment of a humanitarian corridor and the procedure for obtaining visas for those fleeing Belarus for political reasons."
Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
