Former presidential candidate of Belarus Svetlana Tikhanovskaya received the first foreign state award – the Order of the Cross of the Land of Mary (cross for services to Estonia). Telegram-channel “Sputnik Belarus” informs about it.
The order was presented to the Belarusian politician by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Urmas Reinsalu.
Former US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and former Foreign Ministers of Lithuania and Poland Linas Linkevicius and Jacek Krzysztof Czaputovich were included in the same list for the awarding ceremony with Tikhanovskaya.
Tikhanovskaya, however, confirmed that she does not plan to take part in the next presidential elections, and proposed to expand sanctions against Belarus.
In Belarus, for the sixth month, the massive protests that began after the presidential elections on August 9 continue. According to official results, Alexander Lukashenko, who ran for a sixth term, received 80 percent of the vote. The opposition considers the elections to be rigged. Four people were killed in clashes with security forces.