Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday announced that the United States would grant freedom to Belarus, which is being roiled by days of unrest following the disputed re-election of its authoritarian president, and other countries such as Russia, China and Iran that threaten democracy. stelle.
“We will continue to talk about the risks for the Belarusian people,” Pompeo said in a speech in the Czech capital, Prague. “We want them to have freedom in the same way that people all over the world do.”
Pompeo, the top US diplomat, has expressed concern about Russia’s efforts to restrict Chinese powerhouses and telecommunications networks that could be used for espionage.
“Russia continues to try to undermine your democracy, your security through disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks,” he said. “It’s even trying to rewrite your history.”
Pompeo endorsed the Chinese Communist Party as “even more of a threat.”
“In your country alone, we see campaigns of influence against your politicians and security forces, the theft of industrial data you have created through your innovation and creativity, and we have seen the use of economic leverage to stifle freedom itself,” Pompeo said. at the news conference with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
Pompeo said Czech lawmakers should push Chinese attempts to influence the country, noting how Beijing is threatening to retaliate against its support for Taiwan and Hong Kong.
“The CCP is already embedded in our economies, in our politics, in our societies in ways that the Soviet Union never was,” he said.
Babis said the events in Belarus were “unacceptable.”
“It was shocking to see what happened,” he said. ‘Seeing something like this in Europe is so shocking so close to us. It’s outrageous. ”
Pompeo’s remarks, on the second day of a four-day tour of the region, came after Belarus’s top opposition leader fled Sunday’s elections, giving strong President Alexander Lukashenko a landslide victory. gave and continued his government which began in 1994.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a 37-year-old former English teacher who took her husband’s campaign after he was imprisoned, said she fled to protect her children.
Lukashenko won 80 percent of the vote for Tikhanovskaya’s 10 percent, but refused to give in, claiming the election was rigged.
Protestants have clashed with police since the election results were announced.
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