MOSCOW, February 11./TASS/. Moscow has cautioned Germany against embarking on efforts to sow the seeds of enmity between Russia and Belarus, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday
"Moscow does not harbor any illusions about positions of Berlin regarding key social and political processes in the country that is our ally," she specified. "We would like to warn [our] German counterparts against any attempts to meddle or whip up discord in the allied Russian-Belarusian relationship, either directly or through the use of other parties," Zakharova stressed.
Russia paid attention to the fact that some Belarusian opposition activists and representatives of the German authorities were discussing the situation in Belarus "within the context of relations with Russia," she said. "Anti-Russian positions of some leaders of the protest movement in the Republic of Belarus, including those associating themselves with the Coordination Council of the Belarusian opposition, have not been publicly advertised as of yet, but are becoming evident," she added.
Last week, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced the creation of a mechanism to collect evidence of incidents of human rights violations in Belarus and announced the allocation of 21 million euros for a program to support civil society in the country.
Nationwide demonstrations engulfed Belarus following the August 9 presidential election. According to the Central Election Commission’s official results, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide, garnering 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the ballot. However, she refused to recognize the election’s outcome, and left Belarus for Lithuania. After the results of the exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests erupted in downtown Minsk and other Belarusian cities. During the early post-election period, the rallies snowballed into fierce clashes between the protesters and police. The current unrest is being cheered on by the opposition’s Coordination Council, which has been beating the drum for more protests. In response, the Belarusian authorities have castigated the ongoing turmoil and demanded that these unauthorized demonstrations be stopped.