The wave of indiscriminate arrests over the last two days in Minsk, as well as the suppression of key civil rights and fundamental democratic freedoms, including the press, give rise to the deepest concern.
These serious developments also followed an election which, according to many observers, not only local, has disappointed the expectations placed on it by the international community.
Italy calls on the Minsk authorities to enter a dialogue with the opposition as soon as possible and to take all necessary measures to defuse tensions. The Italian side will not fail to offer every useful support to a stable and democratic Belarus.
