EU refuses to recognize Lukashenko's legitimacy

The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said in a statement last week that the bloc does not recognize Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus. "The situation is clear for us. We consider the elections of Aug. 9 fraudulent," Borrell told the EU Parliament. 

Notably, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Estonia have not recognized Alexander Lukashenko as head of the Republic of Belarus. The relevant statements have been posted on Twitter. "Lukashenko is responsible for the presidential elections in Belarus, which were neither free nor fair.

Slovakia supports the citizens of Belarus," Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok said. In his turn, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu called Lukashenko's inauguration illegitimate and contradictory to democratic principles. "Today's illegitimate inauguration of Lukashenko goes against all principles of democracy. Lukashenko has lost his mandate. We call upon free and fair elections for Belarus people to get the president they deserve," stated the Estonian minister. 

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevics said that Alexander Lukashenko's "secret inauguration" did not give legitimacy to the election and his status as head of state. 

A spokesman for the German Cabinet Steffen Seibert said that the German government continued considering the presidential election results in Belarus illegitimate. 

The federal government regrets that European leaders have disagreed on a sanctions list against the Belarusian authorities," he noted.