OSCE Slams Belarus Vote as Opposition Shut Out of Parliament
- Elections didn’t meet international standards, observers said
- Government critics lost only two seats they’d held since 2016
Votes are counted at a polling station in Kreva, near Minsk, Belarus, on Nov. 17.
Photographer: Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
Opposition groups in Belarus lost their only two seats in parliamentary elections criticized by international observers, as the country’s authoritarian leader focused on looming trade negotiations with Russia.
The vote “did not meet important international standards for democratic elections,” Margareta Cederfelt, who leads the short-term observer mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told reporters Monday at a press conference in the capital, Minsk.