Protests in Belarus showed no signs of cooling even a week after President Lukashenko announced his re-election with nearly 80% of the vote.

Tens of thousands of people continued on August 16 to protest in the capital Minsk, Belarus, after President Alexander Lukashenko made a speech affirming that he would not resign.

Tikhanovskaya, 37, joined the power race after her husband Sergei Tikhanovsky, a 41-year-old Youtuber, was arrested in May and removed from the right to run for president.

Crowds of demonstrators on August 16 marched through the streets towards Independence Square.

European Union (EU) officials decided on August 14 to pursue new sanctions on Belarusian officials, according to two diplomats aware of the discussion.

President Alexander Lukashenko, 65 years old, has been in the leadership of Belarus since 1994. He has repeatedly criticized and accused of cheating the election results from the opposition and independent observers.

The EU has imposed sanctions on Belarus for human rights abuses, including election fraud and undermining democratic norms, at least twice in the past 15 years.

Lukashenko has never built up an official supportive foundation other than the Belaya Rus association, founded in 2007 by his allies and political members of the country.

Belarus this year recorded a record when there were 55 political groups nominating candidates for president, but only 15 groups were allowed to participate.

For nearly three decades in leadership, Lukashenko has relied on a "personal system" to maintain his position, according to Belarus Digest.

Farmers and factory workers, which Rakhlei calls Lukashenko's "silent majority", have quit their jobs to protest, causing unrest beyond the capital Minsk and creating massive demonstrations of people.

Covid-19 is one of the factors that led to the current widespread protests in Belarus, according to Rakhlei.

But a nation of 9.5 million people reported nearly 70,000 infections and more than 600 deaths.

At the end of July, President Lukashenko declared an infection with nCoV, but had no symptoms and had recovered.

However, the pandemic has prompted many migrant workers to return to Belarus, leaving them unemployed and without income to support their families.

The three female leaders have become the faces of the disgruntled Belarus people of the government, including Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the opposition candidate and former teacher, along with Veronika Tsepkalo and Maria Kolesnikova.

Tikhanovskaya and Tsepkalo joined the race after their husbands had to give up their intention to run because of political pressure.

"What the three women can do is unite a lot of their supporters and you can see from the amount of political protesters. They are strongly supported for the changes they declare."

Lukashenko said that the burden of the presidency would cause a woman "to fail poorly".

"I participate in politics not for power, but to restore justice," Tikhanovskaya said.

Tsepkalo left the country after the election, while Tikhanovskaya also announced his departure to protect the safety of her children.

Immediately after the election results were announced, protesters took to the streets to protest because they thought there was election fraud.

"Over the past several days, the world has witnessed chaos in Belarus when police fired rubber bullets and used tear gas to stop peaceful protesters. It was clear that the bloody spectacle on the streets of Belarus was just the tip.

But attempts to quell the protest did not seem to be as effective as expected.

Interior Minister Yuri Karayev unexpectedly apologized for injuring protesters despite denying the allegations of election fraud.

The US, EU and some member countries viewed the 9/8 election as unfair and free.

"We need more sanctions on people who violate democratic values and abuses of human rights in Belarus," Ursula von der Leyen, EC president posted on Twitter.

Many EU foreign ministers also agreed to impose sanctions on Belarusian officials involved in violent protests.

On the Russian side, the Kremlin on August 16 issued a statement saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin had told his Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko that Russia was ready to implement a collective defense treaty if necessary to help Belarus "solve the problem.

Earlier, in a speech congratulating President Lukashenko on August 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed his relationship with Belarus, while at the same time pledging to increase his military presence in the country.

Belarus leader Lukashenko vowed to share power and change the constitution, but not under pressure from protesters.

We cannot give the constitution to those whom God knows who, because disasters will follow, "Lukashenko said.

Analyst Rakhlei said it is difficult to predict what will happen in Belarus in the near future, as President Lukashenko still receives support from the Belarusian security and military forces, while Interior Minister Karayev agrees.

However, Rakhlei said that the Belarusian situation can not return to the previous situation.