EP President: We call on Lukashenka to engage in dialogue with Coordination Council
The European Parliament rejects the official result of the 2020 presidential election in Belarus, EP President David Sassoli said on the back of Monday’s meeting with Фднфлыфтвк Lukashenka’s election opponent Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya in Brussels.
“I welcome Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya in the European Parliament. I am very happy that she is doing well. Unfortunately, there are thousands of Belarusians still in detention, many of whom were tortured in their own country. For 45 days people have been demonstrating on the streets, demanding their right to choose,” he said.
According to the top EU official, the current state of affairs is ‘unacceptable’.
“We call on Mr Lukashenka to release all those detained and engage in dialogue with the Coordination Council and representatives of the Belarusian people. Last week, the EP voted a resolution by a large majority, calling for the respect for civil, political and human rights in Belarus and supporting the idea of sanctions to target the perpetrators of violence. We believe that the citizens of Belarus must be the sole authors of their destiny. The only viable solution is a peaceful transition of power,” Sassoli stressed.
In turn, Tsikhanouskaya said she appreciated the adoption of the resolution on the post-election situation in Belarus.
“This resolution is bolstering Belarusians in their fighting. We are asking the international community not to recognise Mr. Lukashenka’s authority, because in the eyes of Belarusians, he has no legitimacy to exercise it <…> Only if we have the international community’s support, we will be able to win our fight for a democratic Belarus,” the politician said.
During her visit to the European parliament, a rally of solidarity with Belarus was held in front of the EP building:
On September 21, members of the board of the Coordination Council Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Volha Kavalkova and Pavel Latushka spoke at a meeting of the European Parliament on international affairs. In their speeches, the Belarusian oppositionists stressed the need for dialogue on the peaceful power transfer.
