Belarus warns EU against inviting Lukashenko’s rival to meeting
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The foreign ministry in Belarus warned that it saw the possible participation of opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in an EU ministerial meeting as an interference in domestic affairs, the Belta state news agency reported.
Tsikhanouskaya has led the biggest challenge to President Alexander Lukashenko’s 26-year rule in Belarus.
The foreign ministry said it had informed European diplomats about its view.
Russian state news agencies reported earlier that Tsikhanouskaya is expected to take part in a meeting of European foreign ministers next week.
Belarusian policemen detain a participant of women’s peaceful solidarity action in Minsk, Belarus, 19 September 2020. Opposition activists continue their every day protest actions, demanding new elections under international observation. EPA-EFE/STR
Belarusian police detained hundreds of protesters in central Minsk on Saturday, a witness said, as around 2,000 people marched through the city demanding that President Alexander Lukashenko step down.
Belarus, a former Soviet republic closely allied with Russia, has been rocked by mass street protests since Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in an Aug. 9 presidential election that his opponents say was rigged. He denies their accusation.
Saturday’s protesters, most of them women, briefly scuffled with police who then blocked their path and started picking people one by one out of the crowd, the witness said.
