EU Threatened Lukashenko with Relations Deterioration and with Sanctions

EU calls on Belarusian authorities to immediately and without conditions release all detainees The European Union may impose sanctions against representatives of the Belarusian authorities responsible for violence against protesters, groundless arrests and election results falsification. This stated on Tuesday the head of the EU Foreign Ministry, Josep Borrell. The statement emphasizes that according to official data, the presidential elections held in Belarus on August 9, ended with the victory of the incumbent head of state Alexander Lukashenko and were neither fair nor free and did not meet the standards that the OSCE member states must comply with. In addition, the Belarusian authorities disproportionately use violence against protesters, which has resulted in the death of at least one demonstrator and a large number of casualties. The EU called on the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all detainees. A separate statement made the foreign ministers of the so-called Lublin Triangle countries - Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine. It calls for dialogue between the Belarusian authorities and civil society and expresses readiness to mediate in arranging such a dialogue. Earlier, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry stated that the EU countries assess the situation in the country "even without trying to objectively understand and really assess" it. The Foreign Ministry's statement says that Minsk "is ready to present concrete irrefutable facts that reveal the background of the current events, including about interference from abroad." The Central Election Commission of Belarus announced that, according to preliminary data, Lukashenko won the elections. The reports sparked massive protests in cities across the country. Their participants consider the election results to be falsified. The Belarusian authorities are suppressing protests; thousands of people have been detained.