Ministry of Foreign Affairs summons Belarusian Ambassador to Estonia
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned Vyacheslav Kachanov, the Ambassador of Belarus to the Republic of Estonia, after opposition demonstrations following Sunday's presidential election were violently suppressed.
On Tuesday, August 11, the foreign ministry announced Estonia calls upon the Belarusian authorities to halt all use of force and repressions against peaceful protesters.
As stated in the press release: "Estonia is closely monitoring events in Belarus and we express our hope that democratic processes will be able to take place in the country."
The ministry also wrote they are deeply concerned about restrictions regarding access to the Internet in Belarus, which obstructs the movement and sharing of information within the country.
ERR News wrote on Monday that following the elections in Belarus on Sunday, the Belarusian Central Election Commission said the results of the election showed Alexander Lukashenko received 80.23 percent of the total votes, with opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya winning only 9.9 percent.
The results sparked protests across Belarus on Sunday night, which saw clashes between police and protesters.
According to the BBC, internet monitoring group NetBlocks earlier said connectivity had been "significantly disrupted" across Belarus, with the situation worsening throughout the day and creating an "information vacuum".
Exit poll: Belarusians in Estonia pick opposition leader over Lukashenko
Exit poll abroad - Estonia, a project conducted by Belarusians in Estonia, questioned Belarusian voters about their choice after they had cast their ballots on Sunday. Voting took place at the Belarusian embassy in Tallinn.
The project's official results were published early Monday morning showing 345 voters in favor of the opposition candidate and 271 votes cast for Lukashenko. In total, 648 ballots were cast at the Tallinn embassy, according to data collected by the organization. This means 53.2 percent of the votes were cast in favor of Tikhanovskaya and 41.8 percent for Lukashenko.
Preliminary polls published on Sunday evening on the group's Facebook page (shown below) showed large-scale support for Tikhanovskaya, with close to two-thirds of respondents saying they voted for the opposition candidate.
Final results for all 25 cities polled by the organization can be seen here.
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Editor: Kristjan Kallaste
