Poland’s ministry of foreign affairs condemned the violence and appealed to the Belarusian authorities 'to stop escalating the situation". — Reuters pic

WARSAW, Aug 10 —Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called on the leaders of the European Commission and the European Council to hold a special European Union summit on Belarus, the cabinet said today.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko won a landslide re-election victory, the central election commission said today, after bloody clashes between riot police and thousands of protesters who said the poll was rigged. Opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanouskaya said she refused to recognise the official results.

Poland’s ministry of foreign affairs condemned the violence and appealed to the Belarusian authorities "to stop escalating the situation and to start respecting fundamental human rights”.

"In the face of the ongoing events in Belarus, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its deep concern about the brutal pacification of post-election demonstrations. The harsh reaction, the use of force against peaceful protesters, and arbitrary arrests are unacceptable,” it said in a statement. — Reuters