Lukashenka to Grybauskaitė: “This election to be no different from previous one”

The President of Lithuania tried to urge Lukashenka to hold democratic election in Belarus.

Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė has stated that her country, like the European Union in general, hopes that the presidential election in Belarus would be free and fair, and Belarusian citizens would be offered a right of choice, “Interfax-Zapad” reports.

“Like the European Union, Lithuania looks at Belarus and the new elections with hope. We wish the election to be open, free, for people to have choice, for the candidates that could be registered to be registered,” stated Lithuanian president in Minsk during the talks with Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

As said by her, “Europe and Lithuania are ready to help Belarus in that, to recognize the openness of the elections, if you would be able to demonstrate it.” “I am very glad that I have heard a positive attitude to the presidential election. It is a very good beginning,” Grybauskaitė said.

Summing up the results of the meeting with Lukashenka, she said that as the Belarusian leader said, both observers from the CIS and the OSCE are to be given access to the election observation. “We hope that after the election Belarus will be more open, we hope that human rights would be defended here,” the Lithuanian president emphasized.

In response to Grybauskaitė’s comment about presidential candidate’s registration, Lukashenka said: “As an incumbent president, I will do everything for all of them to be registered.” “Our candidates do not need to be registered,” Grybauskaitė noted. “We are ready that you are open for a discussion, it is a very good signal,” she added.

Continuing the topic of the election, Lukashenka noted: “Who else should be registered, who else needs assistance?” “We need this election to be none the worse than the previous one. However, I do not know why the previous election was bad?” Lukashenka said.

“We will encourage in every possible way to have more of candidates,” the Belarusian president said. As said by him, the presidential election in Belarus will be held in such a way “for no one to point fingers at us after this election,” Lukashenka said.

However he called upon the European Union “to stay aside, to throw away stereotypes,” existing in the EU concerning Belarus.

We remind that all the presidential elections in Belarus including the election in 2006 were found by the world community not free and not democratic. Their results had been rigged.