The European Union called on Belarus to end the criminal case against the new opposition body, Reuters reported.

“We expect the Belarusian authorities to stop the criminal case and instead to engage in a dialogue in view of moving towards a peaceful way out of the current crisis,” Nabila Massrali, an EU spokeswoman for foreign policy and security affairs, said in a statement.

“The Coordination Council, which consists of representatives of different parts of Belarusian society, reached out to the authorities for a dialogue and the authorities answered with the opening of a criminal case. In doing so, the Belarusian state authorities have once again reverted to intimidation based on political grounds.”