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| - Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde on Monday hosted talks with Olga Kovalkova, a member of the exiled Belarusian opposition, calling President Alexander Lukashenko's regime of repression "unacceptable". Kovalkova is a member of the so-called Coordination Council, created by the opposition to coordinate a transition of power and negotiate Lukashenko's departure, which protestors have demanded since a contested August 9 election. "Fruitful meeting in Stockholm with representative of the Belarusian opposition Olga Kovalkova. Discussed way forward towards a national dialogue," Linde wrote on Twitter, posting a photo of their meeting. "Repression and violence against peaceful demonstrators and opposition are completely unacceptable," the Social Democratic minister added. Kovalkova said on September 5 she was living in exile in Poland. Sweden has been a strong supporter of the Belarusian opposition movement. Last week, the Nordic country dispatched its diplomats to protect Nobel literature laureate Svetlana Alexievich in her home, one of the Coordination Council's seven presidium members to have not been arrested in the former Soviet bloc country. On Sunday, tens of thousands of demonstrators protested again in Minsk for the fifth straight Sunday, calling for Lukashenko's resignation. He has been in power since 1994. map/po/pma
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