Belarus faces sanctions

Moscow congratulated Lukashenko, and Washington promises repeat elections

The world reacted differently to Alexander Lukashenko's victory in the presidential elections in Belarus. According to preliminary data from the Central Election Commission of Belarus, the current president received 82.6% of the votes. His main opponent Alexander Milinkevich - only 6%. Two more candidates, Sergei Gaidukevich and Alexander Kazulin, received 3.5% and 2.3% of the votes, respectively. 93.3% of voters took part in the elections.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, without waiting for the official results to be announced, congratulated Alexander Lukashenko on his victory. “The results of the elections indicate the confidence of voters in the course you are pursuing to further ensure the growth of the well-being of the Belarusian people,” says the congratulatory telegram.

Washington also decided not to wait for the official results. But they did not congratulate Lukashenko, but officially stated that they would support the opposition’s demand for a new vote, since the election campaign took place in an “atmosphere of fear.” The British Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, found “a strangely high percentage of citizen participation in the elections.” Davis was also “somewhat surprised” by the “scale of the president’s victory.” NATO Secretary General, Dutchman Jaap De Hoop Scheffer, unequivocally condemned “the way the elections were conducted in Belarus” and called on the Belarusian authorities to ensure the implementation of their obligations under the NATO Partnership for Peace program.

British Ambassador to Minsk Brian Bennett expressed the opinion in a conversation with a Vremya Novostei correspondent that the European Union may soon decide on sanctions against Belarusian officials. According to the diplomat, among the proposals under consideration are visa restrictions and freezing the foreign assets of the Belarusian leadership. Today in Brussels the meeting of EU foreign ministers ends, at which, among other issues, the results of the elections in Belarus were discussed. Bennett believes that the basis for decision-making by the heads of EU foreign affairs agencies will be the report of observers from the OSCE. It was presented on Monday at a press conference in Minsk, and its general meaning was expressed by the head of the long-term observer mission, Gert-Hinrich Arens: “A positive assessment of the elections has become simply impossible.”

OSCE representatives noted limited access of opposition candidates to the media, pressure on civil servants and students “to force them to refuse to participate in campaign events in support of opposition candidates, and in many cases to vote in favor of the incumbent president,” as well as mass early voting. Mr. Arens noted that the elections did not meet OSCE standards. At the same time, he expressed hope that the situation will improve. “The door was not slammed shut. We express our hope that cooperation with Belarus will be more fruitful in the future,” Arens noted. OSCE representatives cautiously commented on the opposition's intention to seek repeat elections. According to Ahrens, the first step is to go through a domestic complaints and appeals process: “In certain cases, this could lead to repeat elections. We can observe the appeals process.”

Previously, the Belarusian authorities stated that they were calm about the possible non-recognition of the election results by Western countries. Yesterday at a press conference, Alexander Lukashenko said: “We will develop our relations with the EU leadership the way they want it. It does not depend on us.” According to Lukashenko, the EU “will be forced to establish normal relations with a state that is located in the center of Europe... It is very difficult to isolate and strangle us economically. Freight traffic of over 100 million tons passes through Belarus. If the European Union wants to have problems, it will get them.” .

The Belarusian leadership traditionally counts on support from Russia and other CIS countries. A statement on the democratic nature of the Belarusian elections was adopted on Monday by the Russian Foreign Ministry and a group of observers from the CIS, which included representatives of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Anna NAUMOVA, Olga TOMASHEVSKAYA, Minsk