Lukashenko says events in Belarus are not yet at their peak
MINSK, August 18. /TASS/. The developments in Belarus have not yet reached their peak, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday.
"Today problems are surfacing for us both from the inside and the outside. We already see it openly that these are absolutely coordinated actions. But this is not even a peak yet. The events will develop correspondingly but we understand in which direction," the state-run BelTA news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying.
Belarus held the presidential elections on August 9. According to the final data of the Central Election Commission, incumbent President Lukashenko won 80.1% of the vote. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya who was considered as his key rival garnered 10.12% of the vote. She did not recognize the outcome of the polls.
After the results of exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests flared up in downtown Minsk and other cities, which spiraled into clashes with police. The protests continued for several days and, according to the Interior Ministry, several thousand people were detained and dozens of police officers and protesters were injured.