PARIS, March 17 (RIA Novosti) - The European Union should not recognize the results of the presidential elections in Belarus, slated for March 19, and should impose stricter political and economic sanctions against the country's leadership, the Georgian president said Friday.
In an article published in The International Herald Tribune, Mikheil Saakashvili said Brussels should condemn the elections and refuse to acknowledge their results, adding that Minsk was preparing to falsify the vote.
Saakashvili said foreign observers, who do not include U.S. or Georgian representatives, would be unable to ensure the transparency of the elections, as their access to polling stations would be restricted.
Saakashvili called on the EU to more actively back the Belarusian opposition.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by the U.S. State Department, has come under fire from the West for alleged human rights violations and stifling democratic freedoms.
