"Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is currently holding a meeting with Emmanuel Macron in Vilnius. The talks will focus on the possibility to arrange negotiations on a new presidential election in Belarus and the possible mediation of other countries, including France," the opposition figure's press service said in a statement.
"It is highly important that European countries do not stay indifferent to the events in Belarus. France, as one of the oldest democracies, understands us perfectly well. This is why I am going to remind Macron of our key goal, a new free and transparent election, which should be held this year," Tikhanovskaya said, as quoted in the statement.
Belarusian opposition figure Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said on Tuesday, following her talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Lithuania, that the French leader promised to do everything possible to assist the negotiations aimed at settling the political crisis in her country.
"He has promised to do everything possible to assist negotiations [on resolving] the political crisis in our country ... He said we are pressed for time, as many people suffer because of the regime, many people are jailed, and he would do everything to help, to ensure that all the political prisoners are released," Tikhanovskaya told reporters, as quoted by Baltic news portal Delfi.
Earlier this month, the EU Foreign Affairs Council refused to recolonise the validity of the August presidential election in Belarus, in which incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been ruling the country for 26 years, won his sixth consecutive term.
The country's opposition also does not recognize the results, claiming that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was the real winner.
