Lithuanian President calls for sanctions against Belarus
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that it is time to talk seriously about sanctions against Belarus in response to the government's repression against the opposition, reports Delfi.
"The dynamics are such that we should talk seriously about sanctions for Belarus, because what is happening now, even from a distance, is beyond the repressions that the regime has carried out for years. Now we see both dead and wounded people. We see several thousand people who have been detained, or their fate is unknown. We cannot ignore it," the Lithuanian president said.
According to Nauseda, Lithuania's cooperation with the Belarusian authorities will depend on the human rights situation.
"If Lukashenko's regime proves that human rights are not the priority, unfortunately, it already proves it, I do not believe that cooperation is possible. If the country, first of all, does not respect the rights of its own people, the fundamental rights that are written in the Constitution, then how can we expect that this country can respect its foreign partners," said Gitanas Nauseda.
On Sunday, Presidential elections were held in Belarus. According to preliminary data of the Central Elections Committee, the current president of the country Alexander Lukashenko received more than 80% of the votes, his opponent Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya - about 10%.
After the polling stations were closed, mass protests erupted across the country. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Minsk and more than 20 cities across Belarus. There were clashes with the security forces, who used stun grenades, water cannons and rubber bullets against the protesters.
On the evening of August 10, the Belarusian Interior Ministry reported the first death. The Belarus authorities claimed that the man allegedly unsuccessfully tried to throw an explosive device at the riot police.
The opposition presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya left for Lithuania. Her headquarters say that her departure was organized by the Belarusian authorities.