Baltic States – CIS, Belarus, EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Lithuania

The former candidate in the Belarusian presidential elections arrived at the meeting with the French leader at approximately 8:30 a.m., according to a BNS reporter at the scene.

The meeting with the French leader would center on a possibility to organize negotiations on new presidential elections in Belarus and potential mediation of other countries, including France, Ana Krasulina, spokeswoman for Tikhanovskaya, said in a press release on Tuesday.

“It is very important that the European countries do not remain indifferent to what is happening in Belarus. Being one of the oldest democracies, France understands us perfectly well. Therefore I intend to remind Mr. Macron of our main goal – new and transparent elections that should take place during this year,” the press release quoted Tikhanovskaya as saying.

On Monday, Macron said that France would seek to ensure that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) took a mediator’s role in resolving the crisis in Belarus.

“We have proposed that the OSCE should make a commitment, also, France will also spare no effort to ensure this mediation so that we could move forward,” he said at a joint news conference with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in Vilnius.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin did not object to such mediation, the French president said adding that “now it is necessary to obtain the consent of Alexander Lukashenko”. “Our stance has been very clear from the very beginning – we do not recognize Alexander Lukashenko as the president of Belarus,” Macron said.

The French leader also voiced support for the European Union (EU) imposing sanctions against Belarusian regime officials.

French President Emmanuel Macron promised help in the pursuit of negotiations over the resolution of the political crisis in Belarus and the release of political prisoners during his meeting with Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in Vilnius on Tuesday. “He promised us to do everything just to help with negotiations ... for this political crisis in our country,” Tikhanovskaya told the reporters after the meeting.

“He told that time is very crucial because a lot of people are suffering because of this regime, too many people are in jails and he will do everything to help to release all the political prisoners,” she added.

Macron has not yet made any comments about his meeting with the Belarusian opposition leader.

On Monday, Macron said that France would seek to ensure that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) took a mediator’s role in resolving the crisis in Belarus. “We have proposed that the OSCE should make a commitment, also, France will also spare no effort to ensure this mediation so that we could move forward,” he said at a joint news conference with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in Vilnius.

Tikhanovskaya arrived in Lithuania after she declared she did not recognize authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko's victory in the presidential elections on August 9.

Belarus has been engulfed in mass demonstrations since the elections, with people protesting against vote-rigging and the government's violence and demanding Lukashenko's resignation.