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Russia has expelled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya (38) for a wanted man. The Tass news agency reported this on Wednesday, citing the Home Office database. The reason for this is violations of the penal code. The 38-year-old’s whereabouts is no secret: Tichanoskaja has been living in exile in Lithuania since the obviously rigged presidential elections in her native Belarus. On Wednesday she was visiting Berlin, where she was received by Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
As Tass writes, referring to Russian security groups, a manhunt is underway against Tichanovskaya in his home country, Belarus (Belarus). Since Belarus and Russia form a state of union, the request will also be implemented in Russia. However, the tender does not apply internationally.
Tichanovskaya is one of the most important leaders of the democratic movement in the former Soviet republic. In the August elections, she ran against the ruler Alexander Lukashenko, who later claimed victory with more than 80 percent of the vote. But the opposition sees Tichanowskaya as the real winner. Since the elections, there have been daily protests against Lukashenko and his power apparatus.
“Don’t interfere”
Like other EU states, Germany does not recognize Lukashenko as head of state. Lukashenko has secured the support of his neighbor Russia and met with the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin. Moscow granted him a loan of one billion dollars. Tichanovskaya urged Putin on Wednesday to stay out of the power struggle in his country. “Don’t interfere,” he said on Deutschlandfunk. “We want to determine our future ourselves.”
Tichanowskaja had already met Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) in Berlin on Tuesday. She appreciated the political support. Merkel gave him a lot of advice on how Belarus could emerge from the crisis. The CDU’s foreign politician, Norbert Röttgen, spoke out in favor of direct sanctions against Lukashenko. The president now rejects any dialogue, Röttgen said after Tichanowskaya appeared on the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee. Therefore, it would be right for the EU to now put Lukashenko on its sanctions list. (SDA)
