After ruler Alexander Loekasjenko voted in Belarus on Sunday for a seventh term of office, the EU again struggles with finding a common position on the events. And again it is the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán who stops a statement from the international community on his own.
As part of a statement, the Belarusian elections, in which the re -election of Loekashenko was already certain, should have been classified as undemocratic, sources in Brussels reported to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) – Hungarian representatives had the joint statement But the EU member states blocked it.
Even Slovakia finally agreed
According to RFE/RL, Hungary initially received support from Slovakia in making the statement. Slovakia later voted to support the text in which the elections were mentioned illegal because of the “ruthless and unprecedented oppression of human rights” and serious limitations for the opposition and independent media.
The Hungarian authorities, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán,, however, maintained their rejection. Hungary has always resisted stricter sanctions against Russia and more European support for Ukraine.
The elections were “neither free nor fair”
Because there was no unanimous support for all 27 EU countries, Kaja Kallas, head of the EU foreign policy, issued her own statement in which she described the elections on January 26 as “neither free nor fair”. She also called on the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners, “of whom more than a thousand are held randomly, including an employee of the European Union delegation.”
Kallas criticized the late invitation of the regime to independent election observers of the Safety and Collaboration Organization in Europe (OSD), only ten days before the elections, preventing access to crucial phases of the election process. “This is further proof of the total lack of credibility in these elections,” she said.
Putin speaks of a “convincing victory”
The Russian head of state Vladimir Putin is – not surprisingly – still on the Loekashenko side. Putin wrote that he congratulated him with a “convincing victory” and that he wanted to further expand Russian-white-Russian cooperation together. Loekasjenko (70) has been ruling on Belarus in a dictatorial way for more than thirty years. He has connected the former Soviet Republic to Russia – especially since he almost lost power in mass protests in 2020.
After Sunday’s vote, the election authorities in Minsk gave him a supposed result of 86.82 percent of the votes, more than ever before. Loekashenko announced on Sunday that his first trip would bring him back to Russia.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
