Emmanuel Macron warns Russia against Belarus intervention after meeting with Angela Merkel
- French president says relations between EU and Russia at stake, cautions against repeat of 2014 occupation of Crimea
- Belarus prosecutors probe council pushing for strongman Lukashenko’s ouster after disputed election
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday warned against any aggressive Russian intervention in neighbouring Belarus, saying relations between the EU and Russia were at stake.
Large protests have broken out in Belarus since President Alexander Lukashenko claimed a landslide re-election in an August 9 vote that has been condemned as unfair by the opposition and the EU.
Speaking alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was visiting his Mediterranean coastal retreat of Bregancon for talks, Macron said he, Merkel and European Council President Charles Michel had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin several times about the issue.
They were “convinced that stability, and the possibility of a relationship between the European Union and Russia, depend on this issue too”, Macron said.
Macron warned against any repeat of the situation in Ukraine, where the toppling in 2014 of a pro-Russian president was followed by pro-Russian rebellions in the east of the country and the Russian occupation of the Crimea region.
Putin had said he was open to an EU proposal for mediation by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), but that Lukashenko was against the idea, Macron said.
Prosecutors in Belarus meanwhile launched an investigation on Thursday into the nascent coordinating council established by the opposition to support a transition of power.
The prosecutor's office announced in the Telegram news channel that members of the council were trying to seize power illegitimately and were undermining national security.
China and EU diverge on Belarus crisis as protests continue
Belarus' opposition leaders called on the former Soviet republic's military and security forces to switch sides and stop carrying out orders issued by Lukashenko.
Thousands of protesters have been arrested, with many of those freed claiming to have been mistreated in detention. Three protesters have died, according to media reports.
The security agencies are sworn to protect the people – not just one man, said opposition politician Maria Kolesnikova in a video. She guaranteed those who switched side immunity and material security.
“We are asking you to go down in history as the heroes of the Belarusian people,” said Kolesnikova, who is a member of the nascent coordinating council established by the opposition to support a transition of power.
In one of the first concessions by Lukashenko's camp, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said on Thursday that reforms were necessary.
“Changes are needed, no one denies it,” he was cited as saying by Belarusian state news agency BelTA. “But not at the cost of civil confrontation or revolutions, as in this case the number of victims and negative consequences will be many times bigger.”
He did not specify the kinds of changes he was referring to.
“We have already been thrown back many years in our development due to the events of the recent days,” he said.
