EU leaders to hold emergency meeting on Belarus

BRUSSELS

The EU leaders will hold an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to discuss the latest situation in Belarus.

The conference was called on Monday by Charles Michel, the president of the European Council.

“The people of Belarus have the right to decide on their future and freely elect their leader,” Michel wrote in a social media post announcing his decision.

“Violence against protesters is unacceptable and cannot be allowed” he added.

The meeting of heads of states and governments will be held via a video link.

The EU foreign affairs ministers agreed on Friday to take the first steps to prepare a sanction list targeting individuals involved in human rights violations and the falsification of election results in Belarus.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also pointed out that the bloc rejected the results of the presidential elections.

Protests against the results continued on Sunday across Belarus.

On the eight days of the manifestations, tens of thousands took to the streets in the capital Minsk, and shouted slogans against President Alexander Lukashenko, carrying red and white flags Belarus used before 1995.

The EU repeatedly urged Belarusian authorities to halt violence against peaceful protesters last week.

At least two Belarusian nationals were killed in the protests. According to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, 6,000 people have reportedly been detained.

The Central Election Commission of Belarus published the final results on Friday, which showed incumbent Lukashenko won the polls with 80.1% of votes, while opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya came in second with garnering only 10.12% of votes.