The European Union does not recognize Alexander Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus, the bloc’s diplomatic chief said.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, told the European Parliament the August 9 election that returned the veteran strongman to power was fraudulent.

“The situation is clear for us. We consider the elections of August 9 fraudulent. We don’t recognize Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus”, - said Borrell.

He added that more than 7,500 peaceful protesters have been detained and 500 cases of torture have been documented.