MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. Belarus has not yet applied to the Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) with a request for assistance, CSTO press secretary Vladimir Zaynetdinov told TASS on Saturday.
"At the moment, the CSTO secretariat has not received any requests from Belarus for assistance," Zaynetdinov noted.
He noted that if such a request is received from the Belarusian side, it will be considered in accordance with the established procedure. "The grounds for providing assistance are spelled out in the Collective Security Treaty in Article 4 and in the organization's charter. However, all decisions on assistance are made in the organization only after appropriate consultations with all CSTO member states," the press secretary explained.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko earlier said that Russia, at the first request, will help in ensuring the security of the country. "When it comes to the military component, we have an agreement with the Russian Federation within the framework of the Union State and the Collective Security Treaty Organization," Lukashenko explained.
Belarusian presidential elections were held on August 9. According to the final results provided by the Belarusian Central Election Commission on August 14, incumbent President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko received 80.1% of the vote. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who was considered his main opponent, came in second with 10.12%.
After exit poll results were announced on the evening of August 9, protests erupted in downtown Minsk and other regions of the country, leading to clashes between protesters and law enforcement. The protests continued over the following days. As a result, several thousand people were detained, dozens of police officers and protesters were injured.