Cichanouskaya: Lukashenko has undertaken constitutional reform too late

“It just came to our attention then. If Lukashenko really wanted to carry out a constitutional reform, he had to think about it first. In this case, it is just a way to buy time. Belarusians no longer want to see this regime in power. he said, commenting on Lukashenko’s plans to carry out a constitutional reform before the 2022 elections, backed by the Russian leadership.

Ms. Cichanouskaya reiterated her regret for Moscow’s position towards Mr. Lukashenko: “We deeply regret that [Rusijos] President [Vladimiras] Putin has decided to support a dictator who is opposed by the Belarusian people. “

According to Cichanouskaya, Russia takes into account the views of French President Emmanuel Macron on Belarus, and the Belarusian opposition wants “France to enter into dialogue and play a mediating role to find a way out of the crisis.”

In early September, the Russian President’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, announced that Lukashenko had confirmed his intentions to pursue the path of constitutional reform during the September 14 talks with Putin.

“President Putin has supported the initiative of the President of Belarus,” he said.

Cichanouskaya also said in an interview that European Union sanctions on Belarusian officials were necessary to put pressure on Lukashenko and called on the bloc to support the Belarusian people more courageously.

“European countries know that such sanctions are necessary. It happened on Monday [ES] meeting – just one stage, there will be more. But Europe needs to be bolder. You see how brave the Belarusian people are and what they are fighting for, ”he said.

When asked why sanctions should be imposed on Mr. Lukashenko personally, Mr. Cichanouskaya responded: “So that he understands: Europe will not let its crimes go unpunished, it rejects the possibility of using violence against its people.”

The former candidate for the presidency of Belarus stressed that Lukashenko bears full responsibility for the situation in Belarus.

“The only way to force him to resign from office is pressure: demonstrations, strikes, the influence of other countries, the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe). Financial support for this regime must end so that it can no longer pay for the services of the militias that attack the protesters. Dialogue is necessary to prevent the political and economic crisis from escalating, “Cichanouskaya said.

In Belarus there have been unprecedented protests for the second month in a row since the presidential elections on August 9, in which Lukashenko has been declared the winner since 1994. The opposition and Western countries consider these elections to be rigged.