Francois-Philippe Champagne
Another country refused to consider President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko the legitimate head of the republic. This was stated by the head of the Canadian Foreign Ministry Francois-Philippe Champagne on Twitter.
“Canada expresses regret over the undeclared inauguration of Lukashenka after the rigged elections. He lacks the legitimacy of a democratic elected leader. Canada calls for free and fair elections. We are coordinating with international partners an appropriate response, ”the minister wrote.
He also added that he had a telephone conversation with the former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. According to him, they discussed the latest events in the republic.
Slovakia was the first EU country to refuse to consider Lukashenko the legitimate president of the republic. Also, the representative of the German Cabinet of Ministers Steffen Seibert said that Lukashenka cannot count on democratic legitimacy. After that, the US and Ukraine expressed a similar opinion.
On September 23, protests began in Minsk in connection with the inauguration of President Alexander Lukashenko. The protesters were dispersed with water cannons and stun grenades. The Belarusian police denied such methods when dispersing demonstrators.
Lukashenka's inauguration took place at the Palace of Independence in Minsk on 23 September. The ceremony was not broadcast on TV channels, the authorities hid its date until recently.
According to the Central Election Commission, Lukashenka won the presidential election on August 9 with 80 percent of the vote. In Belarus, for the seventh week, there have been mass protests of citizens who disagree with the official voting results.
