The EU held an emergency summit to discuss how best to respond to the ongoing crisis in the former Soviet republic.
The European Union announced plans to impose sanctions on Belarusian officials on Wednesday, with leaders of the 27 heads of state in agreement a new vote would be required following the contested re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko. European Council President Charles Michel said in a video briefing that the bloc would soon impose sanctions on a «substantial number» of individuals responsible for violence, repression, and election fraud. The bloc had previously described the vote as «neither free nor fair.» «We stand firmly behind the right of the Belarusian people to determine their own fate,» Michel said, shortly after the conclusion of an emergency summit with EU leaders. «I would like to address the people of Belarus directly, we stand by your side in your desire to exercise your fundamental democratic rights and in your desire for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous future,» he added. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said EU leaders had also formed a consensus that new elections in Belarus would be needed, Reuters reported. Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, claimed a landslide victory in the August 9 presidential election after official results gave him his sixth term in office with 80% of the vote. The authoritarian leader has denied allegations of electoral fraud.
