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Unprecedented protests in Belarus broke out after the August 9 presidential election, the winner of which was Lukashenko, who had been in power for 26 years. According to official data, the authoritarian leader, who has led the country since 1994, received 80.1 percent, and his main rival, Sviatlana Cichanouskaya, 10.12 percent. votes. The opposition and western countries claim that the results were falsified.
Cichanouskaya claims that he won the election.
This week, dozens of people were arrested in the country, including protesting students and journalists covering the demonstrations.
Photo by Scanpix / ITAR-TASS / Belarusian protesters hold a new demonstration
About 4,000 people took to the streets in Belarus on Saturday. more than 90 people were detained, the Interior Ministry said.
“Strong until they unite”
S. Cichanouskaja, a 37-year-old newcomer to politics, who left for Lithuania the day after the elections, asked his supporters to take part in Sunday’s “March of Unity”, which will begin at 11am. from the Greenwich meridian (2 pm Lithuanian).
“Remember we are strong as long as we are united,” he said in a short video statement.
On Friday, Chichanouskaya led a video call to a meeting of the United Nations Security Council in which he called on the international community to impose sanctions on those responsible for electoral fraud and violence in the country.
AFP / „Scanpix“ nuotr./Sviatlana Cichanouskaja
The Baltic states blacklisted Lukashenko and 29 high-ranking officials from his administration, but other EU members seemed reluctant to target Lukashenko himself.
Russia has said it will respond to any attempt by the West to “influence the situation,” and President Vladimir Putin has hinted at the possibility of sending military support.
Photo by Scanpix / ITAR-TASS / Belarusian protesters hold a new demonstration
On Thursday, Lukashenko received a visiting Russian prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, and replaced his KGB leader. Some analysts believe that this could have been done under pressure from Moscow.
According to Lukashenko, Russia and Belarus agreed on issues on which “they could not agree before.”
“Die hard”
In recent years, the Kremlin has sought closer economic and political integration among the states of the former USSR, but so far Lukashenko has opposed full unification.
Lukashenko and Putin intend to meet in Moscow in the coming weeks.
Belarusian leader Lukashenko said during a meeting with Miishustin that his security forces had recorded German calls showing Putin’s critic Alexei Navaln had been poisoned by Novičiok, a nerve paralyzing substance produced in the Soviet Union.
Photo by Scanpix / ITAR-TASS / Belarusian protesters hold a new demonstration
Belarusian television broadcast a spoken conversation about the material by Mike Navaln in Warsaw and Nick in Berlin. Lukashenko was reportedly called a “tough nut to crack.”
Social media in Russia mocked Lukashenko’s speech, and even some propagandists who loyally support the Kremlin seemed upset.
Lukashenko was also surprised last month when he showed up with a machine gun in the company of his 15-year-old son Mikalaj, who was also armed.
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