MOSCOW, March 28 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the March 25 events in the Belarusian capital of Minsk were a failed attempt to repeat the tactics used by opposition forces in several other former Soviet republics to protest election results.
"What happened in Minsk on March 25 was a failed attempt to follow the opposition tactics that were used in presidential elections in other CIS countries," a ministry press release said. "Clearly, the opposition tried to provoke the ruling authorities into [taking] tough action, thus causing a fresh wave of criticism in the West."
The ministry said Moscow was keeping a close eye on the situation in Belarus and the international reaction to the events, including an unauthorized rally in central Minsk organized by Belarusian opposition leaders Alexander Milinkevich and Alexander Kozulin.
Incumbent leader Alexander Lukashenko, who Washington has dubbed "Europe's last dictator," was re-elected to his third presidential term on March 19 with 83% of the vote. Although Lukashenko is known to have genuine support within the country for providing relative stability in comparison with some other former Soviet states, the opposition candidates, who finished with single digit returns, claim the poll was rigged.
Supporters of the opposition set up a camp on the central square of the capital, Minsk, following the vote until police disbanded them on March 24. The next day, crowds protesting Lukashenko's re-election clashed with riot police, who detained 300 people.
