HEAD OF
BELORUSSIAN
ORTHODOX CHURCH INTENDS TO DISCUSS WITH AUTHORITIES POSSIBILITY
OF PEACEFUL
RESOLUTION OF SITUATION
Interfax-Religiia,
12
August 2020
Metropolitan
of Minsk
and Zaslav Pavel reported that he will meet with representatives
of the
government in order to discuss questions of a peaceful
settlement of the
situation that has arisen after the election of the president of
the country.
"I will
meet
with representatives (of the government—IF)," he said at a press
conference on Wednesday in Minsk, responding to a question of
journalists about
whether the church will participate in the resolution of the
situation that has
developed.
"But the
solution of this problem is the task of the secular
authorities," the
metropolitan emphasized.
He also
called both
protesters and security agencies to a dialogue. "I appeal to the
defenders
of our fatherland that they proportion their power and their
responsibility in
relation to those who are seeking a path but do not know how to
get onto that
path," the primate said.
In
addition, he urged
those "who have come to Belarus in order to meddle" to return
home.
"Go back to your own homes and leave to the Belorussian people
the right
to decide for themselves how to select their life and how they
are going to
live," Metropolitan Pavel said. "I also appeal to the parents of
children who have come out to the barricades: reconsider, appeal
to your
children. There is a path, the path of peace and harmony."
"Sure
there are
questions. But they can and must be resolved. But not by
shedding blood,"
the metropolitan concludes.
In
Belorussia for
three nights now in a row actions of protest have been going on
and clashes
between the participants and law enforcement agencies. The
protesters do not
agree with the announced results of the election of the head of
state, in
which, according to preliminary information of the Central
Election Commission,
Lukashenko garnered 80.08% of the votes and his main opponent,
Svetlana
Takhanovskaia, 10.9%.
During
the actions of
protest one person died and more than 200 were hospitalized.
From 10 to 12
August, more than 6,000 persons were arrested. (tr. by PDS,
posted 13 August
2020)
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