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The rhetoric of the Belarusian authorities towards Russia before and after the presidential elections is very different. Pavel Latushko, member of the Presidium of the Coordination Council of Belarus, said this.
Before the elections in Belarus, in closed-door meetings for Republican-level officials, representatives of the official authorities argued that the main enemy of Belarus is Russia.
This was stated by a member of the Presidium of the Coordination Council of Belarus, Minister of Culture of the country in 2009-2012 Pavel Latushko on the air of the program “Freedom of expression of Savik Shuster” on the channel “Ukraine”.
“… Before the elections, the main enemy [Беларуси] it was Russia. We, all the leaders of the republican level, met for meetings behind closed doors, in which they demonstrated very hard and fundamentally that the main enemy is Russia, we must be afraid of it, it is preparing a special operation to displace during the elections. [президента Беларуси Александра] Lukashenko. Now the West, Ukraine, the United States of America have become the main enemies and Russia is the main friend, “Latushko said.
According to him, such a sharp change in Lukashenka’s rhetoric testifies to the fact that it is impossible to agree on something with him, as with a person who constantly changes his point of view.
At the same time, the former Belarusian culture minister stressed that mass protests remain the main weapon of Belarusians.
“Only through peaceful protests can our citizens seek change in our country,” he said.
Mass protests have been going on in Belarus since August 9. The protesters believe that the results of the presidential elections were falsified. According to official data, Lukashenka won with 80.1% of the voters. Opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya came in second with 10.1% of the vote. At the same time, alternative exit polls showed the opposite picture: Tikhanovskaya’s confident victory.
The Belarusian security forces violently dispersed the demonstrations, in particular with the use of stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannons. During the protests, about 10,000 protesters were detained and hundreds were injured and wounded. The most massive arrests were made from August 9 to 12, then about 7,000 people were detained. According to official figures, four protesters died.
The EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell said the European Union does not consider Lukashenko the legitimate president of Belarus. The European Parliament rejected the official results of the elections in Belarus as they were held “in flagrant violation of all internationally recognized norms”, condemning the use of violence against protesters and calling on the EU to immediately impose sanctions on protesters. responsible for falsifying the election results, including Lukashenko.
On September 23, Lukashenka’s inauguration ceremony took place at the Independence Palace in Minsk. For the first time in the history of Belarus, it was not announced.
Several states, including the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Denmark and the Czech Republic, did not recognize Lukashenko’s inauguration. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that Lukashenka’s inauguration does not mean that he is recognized as the legitimate head of the Belarusian state.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of the leaders who first congratulated Lukashenko on his victory, the day after the elections, even before the official results were announced.
After the elections, Lukashenka announced his desire to “preserve a common homeland with Russia.”
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