Belarusian Opposition Created a Coordination Council

Lukashenko called the initiative an attempt to seize power The Belarusian opposition created a Coordination Council on Tuesday, which President Alexander Lukashenko called an attempt to seize power. Many of the leading opposition figures are either in prison or abroad, including presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to Lithuania after the elections. During the Council creation press conference, her representative Olga Kovalkova stated Tsikhanouskaya is expected coming back to Minsk soon to become the guarantor of a peaceful power transfer. “We only perform in legal ways,” Kovalkova said, warning that “the situation is critical” and will only get worse. She added that authorities have no choice but to engage in dialogue. Speaking at the Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Lukashenko called the plans to create the council an attempt to seize power and promised to take "adequate measures."