EU Diplomats Join Protest In Belarusian Capital
MINSK,Several senior diplomats from European Union countries have arrived at the central square of the Belarusian capital, Minsk, where demonstrators have gathered to protest the results of Sunday''s presidential election, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the scene, Russian Information Agency Novosti informed Tuesday. The group of diplomats includes the ambassadors to Belarus from Britain, Italy, Latvia, France and Germany.
Election day in central Minsk ended with the sound of many thousands of Belarusians chanting "Long live Belarus!" But the name the crowds were chanting was that of Alyaksandr Milinkevich, the main opposition candidate, and not that of the man who, preliminary results indicate, won nearly 89 percent of the vote. How many Belarusians turned up is a matter of guesswork, but as many as 30,000 opposition supporters gathered to protest a vote that will already seems certain to President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to office for an unprecedented third term. Alexander Lukashuk, the director of RFE/RL's Belarus Service, said there were "an incredible number of people, an incredible number of young people" carrying flags of the European Union, the opposition Zubr movement and -- above all – the white-red-white flag that was, until 1996, Belarus's national flag.
Javier SOLANA, EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), made the following comments to the media after the elections in Belarus that took place on 19 March 2006. "I am saddened by the conduct of the Belarusian presidential elections. The preliminary report by OSCE election observers concludes that the elections did not meet international standards. It cites unacceptable abuse of state power in the run-up to the elections, obviously designated to protect the incumbent President. The elections did not allow citizens to freely and fairly express their will at the ballot box. All this casts a shadow over the legitimacy of the electoral process. On the other hand, I am glad to see the consolidation of a genuine democratic opposition and strong civil society. Their efforts to defend the right of each and every Belarusian citizen to a democratic process have shown bravery and deserve our recognition, support and deep respect. I strongly caution the government not to threaten those exercising their political rights in the coming days. The EU will look into further restrictive measures against those responsible for the serious shortcomings and abuse in the electoral process. The European Union will prepare these measures in close co-ordinations with its partners."
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