Catherine Ashton: "Belarus has lost another opportunity"
"The election took place in the atmosphere of repressions and intimidation", the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy says.
Catherine Ashton and Štefan Füle, the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, have made a common statement. The officials claimed that the election to the House of Representatives did not meet the international standards despite "some improvements in the electoral process and the amendments of the Electoral Code".
"Let us note that the citizens' rights for freedom of gatherings, for being nominated as deputy candidates and for free expression of their opinions were not realized in full scope", - Ashton and Füle add, referring to the estimation of the election by the OSCE observers.
