Macron promises help to Belarus opposition

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday committed to help mediate in the Belarusian political crisis during a meeting with opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

“We will do our best as Europeans to help mediate,” Macron said in comments after talks in Lithuania.

Tikhanovskaya welcomed the assistance saying that Macron “promised us to do everything just to help with mediation for this political crisis in our country”.

The meeting was Tikhanovskaya’s most high-profile meeting since a presidential election on August 9 in which she has claimed victory against President Lukashenko.

She has previously met EU foreign ministers and leaders of Poland and Lithuania, two EU states that border Belarus and have taken a lead in opposition Lukashenko’s 26-year rule.

Mass protests that have continued since the election have been met with a violent crackdown by the authorities. Russia has already taken the side of the current President in the current escalation of events.

Tikhanovskaya, who fled to Lithuania after the vote, said Macron promised to “do everything he can to release all the political prisoners”.

Read more via France 24