Ukraine generally shares EU position on elections in Belarus – MFA
The officially announced results of the presidential elections in the Republic of Belarus do not inspire confidence in the Belarusian society, Ukraine is extremely concerned about cases of unjustified cruelty by law enforcement officers against citizens participating in the protests, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on Saturday evening.
"We generally share the position expressed by the European Union regarding the elections in Belarus. Ukraine is extremely concerned over the cases of unjustified brutality of law enforcement officers against citizens participating in protests, media representatives and foreigners. We hope that the release from custody of some of the detainees will be the beginning of a dialogue between the authorities and civil society in order to find compromises," the statement says.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called on the Belarusian leadership to refrain from political persecution of their political opponents.
"We call on the leadership of Belarus to prevent further political persecution of its opponents and those citizens of Belarus who attended the street protests to demonstrate their position, as well as to thoroughly investigate all the facts of the illegal use of force against peaceful protesters. Ukraine considers Belarus a particularly close country and is ready to do all efforts to help it go through this difficult stage without weakening its sovereignty, to resolve the crisis while respecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens," the Foreign Ministry concluded.
