EU Leaders Speak Up on Belarus in Test of Geopolitical Relevance
- Leaders to discuss response to crisis in hastily arranged call
- EU is seeking new role as it adapts to international changes
Photographer: Michal Cizek/AFP via Getty Images
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European leaders upped the rhetoric on Belarus in what could be a defining historical moment for the EU to try and flex its rarely used foreign-policy muscle.
The bloc’s 27 leaders will hold an emergency conference call on Wednesday to discuss the violent aftermath of Belarus’s presidential election, which the EU said was neither “free nor fair.” According to one official, they may decide to call for a new vote and reinforce the need for sanctions with a view that their credibility is at stake with an escalating conflict at their doorsteps.