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The German Chancellor asked Vladimir Putin to scrap the plan to offer military or police support to Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko at a time when that country faces a political and social crisis stemming from the protests.
According to the news reported by the Financial Times, Angela Merkel supported the demonstrations that have taken place since Lukashenko’s presidential re-election, about two weeks ago. The German leader defended the right of the people to express their opinion, which she considers to have been “taken for granted” by the government of the bishops, “independently and without external interference, or from any direction.”
“I hope that the Russian military forces are not deployed,” he quotes from the financial daily Merkel.
Merkel’s considerations come at a time when the relationship between Russia and Germany is put to the test after, last week, a Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny was the victim of an alleged poisoning by Russian authorities and was hospitalized in Berlin. . Doctors at the Charité hospital in the German capital believe it is “very likely” that Navalny was poisoned with a substance similar to the nerve agent. Russia rejected their conclusions. The activist is currently in a stable state despite still being in an induced coma.
At least two protesters have been killed and thousands of people have been arrested since last Sunday’s vote, which Lukashenko’s opposition, in power for 26 years, says was fraudulent to disguise the fact that the Belarusian leader has lost the public support.
Russia, which has a troubled relationship with Lukashenko, is watching the situation closely. The European Union is preparing to impose new sanctions on Belarus in response to the violent crackdown. Ties between the two countries were at risk before the elections, when Russia cut subsidies that supported the Lukashenko government.
The two countries signed an agreement in 1999 that was supposed to create a unified state. However, this project was never properly implemented, and more recently, Lukashenko saw Moscow’s calls for a closer economic and political alliance as an attack on his country’s sovereignty.
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