MINSK, 26 February (BelTA) – Belarus’ decision not to invite OSCE observers to the 2024 elections was logical and justified, CIS Secretary General and head of the CIS observation mission at Belarus’ elections Sergei Lebedev told journalists after his meeting with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko on 26 February, BelTA has learned.
Sergei Lebedev noted that the CIS observation mission did not have the task “to engage in nit-picking in order to criticize the leadership, the authorities of Belarus”. While Westerners, unfortunately, have already announced that the elections fell short of democratic standards. “Today we have discussed with the president that the spokesperson for the Department of State [of the USA] has already stated that the elections were held in a climate of fear. I’ll tell you honestly, I didn’t see any fear among the voters. Quite the opposite, they were in a good mood,” said the CIS secretary general.
He emphasized that the U.S. Department of State made this statement even before the end of the voting process in Belarus. “The elections have not yet ended, but the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State said that they were “undemocratic” and were held in a climate of fear,” noted Sergei Lebedev. “When he said these words, people in Washington were still asleep, they could not know the voting results,” he remarked.
“It seems to me that Western observers are absolutely biased. This is already obvious,” the CIS secretary general emphasized. “The decision of the leadership of Belarus, the Central Election Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not to invite Western observers is quite logical and justified. Indeed, we cannot expect an objective assessment from them,” he remarked.
According to Sergei Lebedev, the election evaluation by the CIS observer mission is objective and the elections were calm and well-organized.
