Brussels, 20/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 20 December, a spokesperson for the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy issued the following statement on behalf of the EU: “High Representative Catherine Ashton condemns the use of violence following yesterday's presidential elections in Belarus, particularly the beating and detention of several opposition leaders, including a number of presidential candidates. She calls on the authorities to immediately release those arrested.”
“High Representative Ashton regrets that last night's events do not reflect the relative progress we had noted so far in the pre-election period. She has taken note of the preliminary results of the elections as announced by the authorities. We are now waiting for the OSCE/ODIHR preliminary report to assess the conduct of the elections.”
The president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, has been closely following the Belarus elections and published two statements, one on Sunday 19 December and one on Monday 20 December, in which he states: “the cowardly attack against a defenceless candidate for President of Belarus is outrageous and disgraceful ... This type of behaviour is unacceptable for the international community.” Later on, Buzek condemned the elections and called for an immediate end to the violence against opposition activists.
The chair of the EPP, Wilfried Martens, also issued a statement condemning the violence of the Belarus election, describing the events in Minsk as “truly deplorable. These acts are an offence to the European Union and the democratic world.” (Gp/transl.fl)