MINSK, August 23. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Saturday tasked the country’s law enforcement agencies with identifying those responsible for the political crisis in Belarus and stabilizing the situation in the country within two days.
"I have just said: [you have] Saturday and Sunday to think it over. And starting from Monday - no offense, but the authority must be the authority," the Belarusian leader told his supporters at a rally in the western Belarusian city of Grodno on Saturday.
Among other things, Lukashenko tasked the country’s Interior Ministry and the State Security Committee with "restoring order in Grodno and other cities in the area over the weekend."
"We need to carefully expose all instigators and troublemakers. We have lists of all of them," he added.
The Belarusian leader said he regretted the fact that the country’s military had to maintain order domestically instead of guarding the country’s borders.
"The troops and the special forces must be there, on the border. Instead, we have to deploy our soldiers at city streets to ensure law and security," he said.
Lukashenko said the rallies and protests in Belarus were orchestrated and coordinated from abroad.
"The masterminds are not residents of Grodno, not citizens of Belarus. They remain somewhere near Warsaw or Vilnius," he said.
"Those who coordinate all those events stay abroad, in neighboring countries. And I’d like to warn them: this is not just the border of Belarus. This is the external border of the Union State of Russia and Belarus and the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization]. And the response will be adequate," he said. "I’m thankful to the heads of state who support Belarus. But I’m sure that we will manage to cope with it ourselves."
Belarus, which held the August 9 presidential election, has been hit by mass protests for more than a week. The protesters challenged the outcome of the vote. During the first day of riots, the protesters clashed with police. Over 6,000 people were detained, dozens of police officers and protesters were injured. According to the final data of the Central Election Commission, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won 80.10% 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.