The U.S. State Department condemned the arrest of a Belarusian opposition activist and said the United States would continue to watch the situation in the authoritarian European nation. "The authorities have once again detained a democracy activist, this time Mr. Anatoly Lebedko, who was one of the top officials in the campaign of opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich. This is just the latest in a continuing series of detentions and sentences that are keeping opposition activists in custody," said department spokesman Adam Ereli. At a press briefing in Washington, Ereli told reporters that the United States was monitoring the situation. It "is something that we will be consulting with our partners in the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) about, with our partners in Europe … It's a matter of grave concern for all of us when a country acts in such flagrant disregard of its own commitments and international standards. And we'll continue to watch. We'll see how the elections unfold," he said. Ereli rejected assertions that the United States has been insufficiently active on the issue. "I think it's something that requires concerted action over time," he said. "Sometimes it takes a bit longer to get things moving in the right direction. But clearly … there is a strong and committed movement in Belarus … We're going to continue to support them, continue to work with them so that they can prevail in their struggle," he added.