PARIS, January 22. /TASS/. The European Parliament on Wednesday voted to recommend that the European Union not recognize the presidential election in Belarus that is scheduled for January 26.
The recommendation passed in a 429-205 vote, with 23 abstentions.
Lawmakers also called for stepping up sanctions against Belarus, accusing its authorities of human rights violations.
The European Parliament is an advisory body and its resolutions are not binding on EU institutions.
Earlier on Wednesday, Belarusian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Anatoly Glaz said European assessments of the election in the country are biased. According to the spokesman, the ministry obtained the statement that the European External Action Service plans to issue following the election, based on the European Parliament resolution. He said the statement contains falsehoods from the very start. To accusations that access of independent news media to the elections was limited, he replied that about 330 foreign journalists representing all the world's leading news outlets were accredited to cover the election. He also said that the election in Belarus has just started, but the statement already "condemned and refused to recognize everything.".