01:59German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said Germany doesn't recognise Alexander Lukashenko as the Belarussian president even after his closed inauguration ceremony on Wednesday.
"There were no free, no democratic presidential election in Belarus meaning there is no democratic legitimacy for such a ceremony, the one that has taken place today," Seibert said during a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday.
The spokesperson stressed that the use of "brutal violence" and arrests of "freely protesting people" should come to an end.
"There must be an end to the fact that these freely protesting people become political detainees who are mistreated behind those walls," Seibert added. "The federal government regrets that it is not possible to put sanctions into effect now. It has been and it remains our goal to take restrictive measures promptly"
Belarus has been rocked by a major political crisis following Lukashenko's re-election as head of state in August, an outcome which sparked mass protests across the country and concerns over human rights abuse from the UN, the EU, and various other organisations.
Germany: Lukashenko inauguration has 'no democratic legitimacy' - govt. spox.
German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said Germany doesn't recognise Alexander Lukashenko as the Belarussian president even after his closed inauguration ceremony on Wednesday.
"There were no free, no democratic presidential election in Belarus meaning there is no democratic legitimacy for such a ceremony, the one that has taken place today," Seibert said during a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday.
The spokesperson stressed that the use of "brutal violence" and arrests of "freely protesting people" should come to an end.
"There must be an end to the fact that these freely protesting people become political detainees who are mistreated behind those walls," Seibert added. "The federal government regrets that it is not possible to put sanctions into effect now. It has been and it remains our goal to take restrictive measures promptly"
Belarus has been rocked by a major political crisis following Lukashenko's re-election as head of state in August, an outcome which sparked mass protests across the country and concerns over human rights abuse from the UN, the EU, and various other organisations.
German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said Germany doesn't recognise Alexander Lukashenko as the Belarussian president even after his closed inauguration ceremony on Wednesday.
"There were no free, no democratic presidential election in Belarus meaning there is no democratic legitimacy for such a ceremony, the one that has taken place today," Seibert said during a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday.
The spokesperson stressed that the use of "brutal violence" and arrests of "freely protesting people" should come to an end.
"There must be an end to the fact that these freely protesting people become political detainees who are mistreated behind those walls," Seibert added. "The federal government regrets that it is not possible to put sanctions into effect now. It has been and it remains our goal to take restrictive measures promptly"
Belarus has been rocked by a major political crisis following Lukashenko's re-election as head of state in August, an outcome which sparked mass protests across the country and concerns over human rights abuse from the UN, the EU, and various other organisations.