Belarus – Meeting between Catherine Colonna and Svetlana Tikhanovskaya (Oct. 6, 2022)

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The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs welcomed Svetlana Tikhanovskaya today. During their meeting, she reaffirmed France’s support for the Belarusian opposition’s fight for democracy and peace more than two years after Belarus’s fraudulent election on August 9, 2020.

She reiterated France’s position on the results of the 2020 presidential election in Belarus, which we did not recognize. That election was marked by numerous irregularities and conducted without an observer mission from the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. France also does not recognize the referendum of February 27, which was a travesty rather than an election.

Her discussions with Ms. Tikhanovskaya also touched on the war in Ukraine. France commends the Belarusian democratic opposition’s condemnation of Alexander Lukashenko’s support for the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

The minister assured Ms. Tikhanovskaya of France’s total solidarity in regard to Belarusian political prisoners. France condemns the Belarusian authorities’ ongoing crackdown against the people of Belarus.