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Russian President Vladimir Putin recalled that he had already congratulated Alexander Lukashenko on his victory in the presidential elections.
Russia recognizes that the presidential elections in Belarus are legitimate. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview with the television channel Russia 1.
“We started from the assumption that the elections were held. I immediately recognized their legitimacy and, as you know, I congratulated Alexander Lukashenko on his victory in these elections,” he said.
Mass protests have been going on in Belarus since August 9. The protesters believe that the results of the presidential elections, which were held from August 4-9, were falsified. According to official data, Lukashenka won with 80.1% of the voters. Opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya came in second with 10.1% of the vote. The rest of the candidates earned less than 2%. At the same time, alternative exit polls showed the opposite picture: Tikhanovskaya’s confident victory.
The Belarusian security forces violently dispersed the demonstrations, in particular with the use of stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannons. During the protests, more than 7,000 protesters were arrested (many of them have already been released), hundreds were injured and wounded. According to official figures, four protesters died.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said on August 11 that the elections in Belarus “were neither free nor fair”, and that the authorities used “a disproportionate and unacceptable violence “against protesters.
On August 28, the EU foreign ministers agreed to impose sanctions on top Belarusian officials due to election fraud and violence against protesters.
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