Belarusian opposition leader: Macron wants to meet Tichanovskaya in Lithuania

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Belarusian opposition leader Tichanovskaya (archive photo)

Photo: Francisco Seco / dpa

France's head of state Emmanuel Macron wants to meet with the Belarusian opposition party Svetlana Tichanovskaya on a trip to the Baltic States.

The 38-year-old has "a lot of courage," said Macron after a meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda.

"We do not recognize the election of President Lukashenko," added Macron, referring to the ruler in Minsk.

The aim is mediation and a "peaceful transition" in Belarus.

According to Macron, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) should help shape the transition.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also signaled that he will support the initiative, Macron said.

The French President explicitly defended his course of a demanding dialogue with Moscow: "We must work" with Russia.

"It is clear that Lukashenko has to go," Macron had already told the French Sunday newspaper "Journal du Dimanche".

"What is happening in Belarus is a crisis of power, an authoritarian power that cannot accept the logic of democracy and which clings to power by force," said the president.

The EU did not recognize the election of Lukashenko as president.

Protesters in Minsk see Tichanovskaya as the true winner of the August 9 presidential election.

Nauseda demanded that the EU must do everything to ensure that the planned sanctions are approved at the upcoming EU summit.

"Lukashenko did not win the election because the election was unfair. Therefore, we cannot recognize former President Lukashenko as a legitimate leader," he said.

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fek / dpa