WARSAW, Poland (AP) – The main opposition candidate in Belarus’s controversial presidential election said Wednesday that political tensions in her country will be resolved internally through the Belarusian people, but has not ruled out the need for long-term foreign mediation.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya made the statements at a foreign economic forum in Poland, a member country of the European Union that supported calls for a political replacement in neighboring Belarus a month of post-election protests.
The presidential election is widely noticed as rigged. The official effects gave Belarus’s authoritarian and pro-Russian leader, Aleksander Lukashenko, a sixth term with 80% of Tsikhanouskaya’s 10% vote.
Protesters are calling for his resignation. Tsikhanouskaya and opposition leaders called for a discussion with the government and new elections.
Tsikhanouskaya, who came here at the time of the election, said Belarusians were grateful to foreign countries for their support, but continued: “We asked all countries, Russia, to respect our country’s sovereignty because it is our internal and sovereign problem.
“If a discussion is impossible, in the long run we will ask other countries to act as mediators in our talks with our government and it will be an open request,” he said.
He said that the reformed Belarus that the opposition is fighting for would like to have relations with all nations, adding that Russia, with which Belarus has close economic ties.
“We can’t get away from Russia because it will be our neighbor and we will have to maintain intelligent relations with them,” Tsikhanouskaya said.
Early Wednesday, Tsikhanouskaya and opposition leaders met to discuss with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Morawiecki gave Tsikhanouskaya a symbolic key for a new Belarusian center in Warsaw, and said the Polish government was seeking to provide housing for Belarusians as they continue their fight for change. embassy.
“We need all Belarusians to locate their true and maximum glorious home in Belarus as soon as possible, but we know realistically that this fight will also have to be fought and supported elsewhere,” he said.
Tsikhanouskaya expressed her gratitude for Poland in this “difficult time for Belarus. “
“President Lukashenko no longer has a mandate. We treat him as president, we entrust our country’s long term in his hands,” he said, emphasizing that new elections are needed.
Amid the unrest in Belarus, Poland and Lithuania played a key role in supporting the Belarusian opposition, providing Belarusians with news and stage data in the country and providing medical assistance to the wounded in mass street protests.
Tsikhanouskaya moved to Lithuania a day after the vote, due to pressure from the authorities.
In recent weeks, Morawiecki’s government announced a series of efforts to help, adding scholarships and positions at Polish universities to Belarusian academics and academics. Prime Minister and Tsikhanouskaya met with academics from Warsaw University on Wednesday.
Outside the university, they were greeted aloud through dozens of young Belarusians chanting “President of Sviata” and other slogans. The other young men wore white and red flags with a coat of arms, which is not yet the official flag of Belarus, which gives the impression in Lukashenko’s protests.
___
Follow all APs on advances in Belarus in https://apnews. com/Belarus