ST. PETERSBURG, October 14. /TASS/. External efforts to destabilize the situation in Belarus have continued and are becoming increasingly sophisticated, Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Natalia Kochanova reported on Thursday.

"External efforts to destabilize the situation in Belarus have not been ceased, they are becoming increasingly insolent and sophisticated. The level of radicalization has been increasing," she said at the plenary session of the Third Eurasian Women’s Forum.

According to her, "large-scale and intensive hybrid war has been declared against Belarus, including via social networks." She stressed that any country could be in the same situation. The entire world, Kochanova continued, is currently being tested. "Confrontation of cultures and civilizations have intensified, the rhetoric escalated in international relations and aggression increased in the information space, and there are real threats of radicalism and extremism spreading," she said.

Belarus held its presidential election on August 9, 2020. According to the Central Election Commission’s data, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won the election. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya came in second. After the vote count, mass protests erupted in the republic, which in the first days resulted in clashes with law enforcement officers.