The elections, held on August 9, 2020, saw President Aleksander Lukashenko declare himself victor despite widespread allegations that the vote was fixed.
ALEXANDER DEMYANCHUK / KREMLIN / POOL/PAP/EPA

The foreign ministers of Poland and the three Baltic states have pledged to continue their support for the Belarusian people and the country’s “democratic forces” in a joint statement marking the third anniversary of presidential elections widely regarded as fraudulent.

The elections, held on August 9, 2020, saw President Aleksander Lukashenko declare himself victor despite widespread allegations that the vote was fixed.

Mass protests in the following days were met with savage repression by the police, and since then Lukashenko has tightened his authoritarian grip on power.

“Lukashenko proclaimed himself the winner of the rigged presidential election, thereby trampling on the democratic aspirations and rights of the Belarusian people,” the four ministers wrote in the statement.

The “massive electoral fraud” has, they continued, resulted in “massive inhumane repression” against “peaceful protesters and their supporters”.

The foreign ministers declared that they will continue to stand with the Belarusian people, “staying true to the commitment expressed in the historic motto ‘For our Freedom and Yours’.”

“We believe in a democratic, independent, and sovereign Belarus, as much as we believe in the victory of Ukraine. Our support to the people of Belarus, struggling for their freedom and dignity, will remain unwavering,” the wrote.

The signatories also called the Lukashenko regime “an accomplice and direct supporter of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine.”

“Ignoring the will of the vast majority of the Belarusian people, the regime grants Moscow full political and logistical support, allows it to use the Belarusian territory as a launchpad for its missiles, for the deployment of nuclear weapons, and recently accepted to host thousands of criminal Wagner mercenaries on its soil,” the ministers wrote

They added that Minsk is also an accomplice in the forced deportations of Ukrainian children, thus being directly complicit in the war crime to be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court.