News

We continue to observe the situation in Belarus, where presidential elections took place on the 9th of August. The elections did not comply with the international commitments of Belarus and globally recognised standards of democracy, and they were not free and fair.

The Belarusian authorities once again failed to ensure respect for human rights and freedoms, and the country was shaken by repressions against the civil society, political activists, candidates in the presidential elections, and the media. The use of excessive force against the participants of peaceful demonstrations is highly reprehensible and unacceptable.

Belarus has violated its commitments and thus has not created conditions for the work of international and independent election observers.

We are concerned that the Lithuanian and international community’s call to put an end to repressions and to ensure a transparent election environment was ignored. We urge the Belarusian authorities to stop persecution of political opponents, to release all those unfairly detained immediately and to respect human rights and freedoms.

It is rather symbolic that the process of loading of the first reactor of Astravets Nuclear Power Plant with nuclear fuel took place right before the presidential elections in Belarus. This once again proves that the entire launch of the power plant was planned in accordance with the election schedule rather than following the implementation of safety requirements. The nature of this project is clearly geopolitical and not economic. Lithuania refuses to purchase electricity from the unsafe Astravets Nuclear Power Plant and shall continue to address this issue in the international arena.

We are prepared to develop relationships based on the principles of good neighbourhood, mutual respect, and trust. However, these relationships are highly dependent on the will and actions of our neighbour state.