EU rejects Belarus vote results
Hundreds of Belarusian protesters gathered in Minsk on August 19 in defiance of a new push by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to clear the streets of the capital on the 11th day of rallies against his rule as the European Union refused to recognize the re-election of the longtime authoritarian president and said it will soon impose sanctions on his government. With thousands taking to the streets daily since the August 9 vote and strikes crippling many state enterprises, Mr. Lukashenka ordered the Internal Affairs Ministry on August 19 to put down mass protests that erupted across the country against the results, which gave Mr. Lukashenka just over 80 percent of the vote. The European Union held an emergency summit on the crisis, with EU Council President Charles Michel saying afterwards that the 27-nation bloc’s message “is very clear: Stop the violence.”