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After the arrest of the opposition politician, there is contradictory information from Kiev and Minsk. It is still unclear where Kolesnikova is.
2:58 pm, September 8, 2020
After the arrest of Belarusian opposition policy Maria Kolesnikowa there are conflicting data from Kiev and Minsk. It is still unclear where Kolesnikova is. According to the Belarusian authorities, Kolesnikova was arrested on the border with Ukraine. The Interfax Ukraine agency, citing the Kiev government, reported that Kolesnikova had broken her passport to avoid deportation.
Of the Deputy Minister of the Interior of Ukraine Anton Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook that Kolesnikova had avoided “forced deportation from her homeland”. “Maria Kolesnikova could not be deported from Belarus because this brave woman made sure that she could not be taken to the other side of the border.” She remains on the territory of Belarus. “Alexander Lukashenko is personally responsible for her life and health,” the minister stressed.
Confusing whereabouts
Kolesnikova had not been found since Monday. The media had reported that she was abducted by masked men in the center of Minsk. According to the Coordination Council of the Belarusian opposition, she was “abducted by strangers in the center of Minsk” together with a spokesperson and an employee.
Kolesnikova, along with two other critics of the government, has come out against President Alexander Lukashenko raised. Of the three politicians, she was the only one in Belarus recently. Fellow activist Svetlana Tichanovskaya he went to Lithuania. From there, he reiterated his criticism of Lukashenko on Tuesday.
Misk and Kiev contradict each other
Belarusian state television reported that Kolesnikova tried in the early hours of the morning cross the border with Ukraine by car. They took her out of the vehicle. Two of Kolesnikova’s allies managed to get out of Belarus.
The Belarusian border guard confirmed that the two Opposition politicians Anton Rodnenkow and Ivan Kravtsov stayed in Ukraine. “Kolesnikova was arrested in connection with the circumstances in which (the group) left the territory of Belarus.” “I can’t say exactly where she is, but she was arrested,” Anton Bychovsky of the Belarusian border guard told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday by phone. The two politicians had disappeared around the same time as Kolesnikova.
Key role in protests
Kolesnikova has played a key role in the recent protests against the outcome of the August 9 elections. Since then, her two colleagues have left the country: In mid-August, former presidential candidate Tichanowskaja traveled to Lithuania and her confidant Olga Kowalkowa to Poland in early September.
Despite the emigration of prominent members of the opposition and hundreds of arrests in the protest movement, public criticism of Lukashenko has continued in Belarus. The 66-year-old has been ruling the former Soviet republic with a heavy hand since 1994. Lukashenko declared himself the clear winner in the most recent presidential election; Since then, large-scale demonstrations have been repeated. Lukashenko also violently suppressed the protests. Russian President Vladimir Putin assured him of military support, the situation should not calm down.
Lukashenko had sought more contact with Putin during the crisis, after relations between the two politicians cooled off beforehand. Putin recently campaigned for a long-term plan to forge closer ties between Belarus and Russia. Lukashenko initially rejected this plan and accused Russia of wanting to incorporate Belarus.
Baltic states warnings
NATO and EU country Lithuania, which borders Belarus, also a former Soviet republic, warned on Monday that Belarus would close ranks with Russia. Lukashenko is about to renounce his country’s independence and sign an agreement on a stronger alliance with Russia. said Chancellor Linas Linkevicius.
Belarusian opposition leader Tichanovskaya said on Tuesday that any treaties Lukashenko concluded would be annulled by a democratically elected Belarusian government. “Lukashenko has no legitimacy as president of our country. He no longer represents Belarus.”
Council of Europe meeting
Tichanovskaya attended a meeting of the Council of Europe. Andrej Savinych an official representative from Minsk also spoke. The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Belarusian parliament accused the opposition of trying to “stir up political and social tensions” during the presidential election campaign. The protests were also monitored on social media and “from abroad.” The security forces reacted to the protesters’ violence in the same way that the security forces of Western countries reacted, Sawinych said. “We have to protect the peaceful population from violence.” Political change in Belarus could not be initiated “under pressure from the streets or from outside actors.” He rejected the allegations of electoral fraud.
Amid the serious political crisis, Belarus is launching a joint military exercise with Russia and Serbia, according to a media report. For the maneuver, Russian and Serbian forces would enter the country from September 10 to 15, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing the Defense Ministry in Minsk. Lithuania had just announced an annual maneuver with hundreds of soldiers from the United States, France, Italy, Germany and Poland from September 14 to 25 last week.
