Media: Hungary blocks joint EU statement on non-recognition of Lukashenko as Belarusian president

Hungary has not approved a joint statement by the EU countries on the non-recognition of the so-called presidential election in Belarus, which Alexander Lukashenko won for the seventh time.

According to Radio Liberty, sources in Brussels said that the EU had planned to publish a joint statement on the non-recognition of the Belarusian elections, where Lukashenko received almost 87% of the vote. 

The text emphasised that the presidential election in Belarus was held amid unprecedented repression and restrictions on the media, so it could not be considered free, fair and legitimate. 

The Belarusian service of Radio Liberty initially reported that Hungary and Slovakia did not support the draft statement. But later, Bratislava supported it, while Hungary – the only one of the 27 member states – refused to sign it. 

As a result, Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Marta Kos, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, were forced to issue their own statement, declaring the 26 January presidential election in Belarus to be a sham and illegitimate.

Self-proclaimed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has previously stated that he did not care whether the West recognised the elections.