OREANDA-NEWS. The foreign offices of three countries, Germany, France and Poland, expressed their concern about the upcoming presidential elections in Belarus and called on Minsk to hold them fairly.

The joint statement was published on the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Germany. “We, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of France, Germany and Poland, observe the ongoing developments in Belarus with great concern. […] We urge Belarusian authorities to conduct the upcoming presidential election in a free and fair manner, including ensuring independent monitoring by local observers,” the statement reads.

Berlin, Paris and Warsaw called on the Belarusian authorities to release “all prisoners detained on political grounds”, cease violence against “human rights, including civil and political freedoms,” and “respect the will of the Belarusian people.”