Facing growing protests, President Alexander Lukashenko has said no fresh elections will take place in Belarus. Germany's president has called on Lukashenko to enter into dialogue with the opposition.
All updates in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC/GMT)
12:30 Poland on Monday pledged €11 million ($13 million) in funding to help Belarussians to pay for visas and resettle in neighboring Poland.
Separately, Poland's deputy foreign minister suggested that European Union funds should be used to support Belarus.
"The EU has an instrument in the form of the European Endownment for Democracy," Marcin Przydacz said during a committee meeting in Poland's parliament.
"We would like such a signal to be sent from the perspective of the leadership of the EU, so that other countries would follow suit."
Latvia's prime minister echoed Poland's sentiments, indicating that the Latvian government would support the use of funding to support strengthening civil society in Belarus, reported the Interfax news agency.
The European Endownment for Democracy (EED) was established in 2013 by the EU and EU member states to foster democracy. The EED provides "fast and flexible technical and financial support to democratization and human rights promotion in the European neighborhood," according to its website.
11:35 Belarusian opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said that she was ready to lead the nation. Speaking in a video address from Lithuania, where she fled following the election, Tsikhanouskaya said she was ready to facilitate a rerun of the disputed election.
"I'm ready to take on the responsibility and act as a national leader in order for the country to calm down, return to its normal rhythm, in order for us to free all the political prisoners and prepare legislation and conditions for organizing new presidential elections,'' she said.
Tsikhanouskaya also urged security and law enforcement officers to switch allegiance from Lukashenko's government, adding that they would be pardoned for their past actions if they did so now.
Read more: Belarus: Tsikhanouskaya calls on security forces to switch allegiance
11:20 Neighboring Lithuania and Poland say they are monitoring the situation on their borders with Belarus.
The Belarusian army has begun exercises in the western Grodno region bordering the two NATO members and has plans to deploy additional troops there. The drills were announced on the weekend after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko accused NATO of a military buildup near the border — a charge the military alliance rejected.
"We are witnessing Belarusian efforts to further escalate and develop a narrative about the so-called foreign threats," Lithuanian Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis told the AFP news agency on Monday.
Dainius Gaizauskas, the chair of Lithuania's parliamentary committee on national security and defense, said there was no reason to respond to the drills: "We believe (the exercise) does not pose a large threat to our national security and I can assure you that Lithuania will not react in any way."
Meanwhile, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Wojciech Skurkiewicz said his country would "also look at what happens at our borders," adding: "We will not be passive in this observation."
11:00 EU leaders will hold an emergency video conference on Wednesday to discuss the disputed Belarus election. EU Council President Charles Michel called the meeting after Moscow said it was ready to provide military help to its ally.
"The people of Belarus have the right to decide on their future and freely elect their leader," Michel tweeted, saying Wednesday's virtual summit would begin at 12:00 pm (1000 UTC). "Violence against protesters is unacceptable and cannot be allowed."
10:48 German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has urged President Alexander Lukashenko to hold talks with the opposition to resolve the crisis.
"I appeal to President Lukashenko to follow the path of dialogue – not to resort to violence," Steinmeier said in Berlin.
He praised the protesters' courage, adding that pictures of hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets were "dramatic and moving."
"The people of this long-suffering but proud country deserve our solidarity and support."
He also said the Belarusian army should not "sin against its own people through violence."
10:46 Workers across Belarus have downed tools after the country's opposition called for a nationwide strike on Monday. Staff at the country's state broadcaster have walked off the job in support of mass protests, and about 5,000 striking workers from the Minsk Tractor Works plant marched down the streets of Minsk demanding that Lukashenko step down and cede his post to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leading opposition candidate.
Read more: Belarus television broadcasts empty studio as state media joins general strike
10:17 Germany has called for an end to the crackdown on peaceful protesters in Belarus and for political prisoners to be released "immediately and unconditionally."
At least two people have died in the post-election demonstrations, while several thousand have been arrested.
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said there should be a "national dialogue" between Lukashenko and the opposition "to surmount the crisis," adding that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) could play a role with a "review of the election."
Seibert also said Germany was prepared to back broader EU sanctions against Belarus. The bloc's foreign ministers agreed on Friday to draw up a list of Belarusian officials who would be targeted with sanctions.
"Of course we are looking at the option of expanding the sanctions to other leading figures," Seibert told reporters.
10:05 Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has told workers at a tractor plant in Minsk that there will be no new presidential vote.
The ex-Soviet state has been gripped by mass protests since the 65-year-old leader's disputed reelection on Sunday. The opposition and the EU say the vote was neither free nor fair, and have demanded a rerun.
The official Belta news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying he would be willing to share power, and to change the constitution, but that he would not bow to pressure from protesters to hold new elections.
"You speak about unfair elections and want fair ones?" the president asked. "I have an answer for you. We had the elections. Unless you kill me, there will be no other elections," he was quoted as saying by TASS news agency and Tut.by.
nm/aw (AFP, Reuters)