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After Sunday’s elections, the results of which, according to opponents of the Lukashenko regime, were rigged, thousands of people were detained during peaceful mass protests brutally repressed by the militia.
“I am sure that the EU and the United States are equally concerned about what has happened and is happening in Belarus, and I hope that we can work together to help resolve the crisis,” Pompeo told reporters during a visit to Slovenia.
The secretary of state said on Wednesday that Belarusians should be given the “freedoms they demand” and called on the Belarusian authorities to ensure that protesters do not suffer.
During a joint press conference with Pompeo, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša called for new elections in Belarus.
“The only peaceful solution to the current crisis in Belarus is to repeat the elections with the full participation of international observation missions,” he said.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has been sending observers to the elections in Belarus since 2001, did not send them to the country this year because Minsk did not invite them in time.
EU foreign ministers intend to discuss the crisis in Belarus in an extraordinary meeting on Friday, calling on some members of the Community to reimpose sanctions on Minsk.
Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced on Facebook on Thursday that he had spoken with Edgars Rinkevičius, the head of Latvian diplomacy for Belarus.
“We are interested in seeing EU solutions based on dialogue that do not impede future relations between Belarus and the European Union and do not hinder the Eastern Partnership,” he said.
In 2009, the EU launched the Eastern Partnership initiative to develop cooperation with six former Soviet republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
The Belarusian militia said Thursday it detained hundreds more protesters as protests continue in the country against controversial Sunday election results and police violence.
Dozens of people were injured and two were killed by the militia with sticks, deafening grenades, tear gas and water cannons against protesters. At least one case of combat ammunition has been reported in the pursuit of protesters.
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