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September 24, 09:24
Lukashenko at his secret inauguration ceremony at the Independence Palace in Minsk (Photo: September 23 / BelTA via REUTERS)
This event was not publicly announced, it was held in an atmosphere of secrecy, so it came as a complete surprise to Belarusians and the world. Post factum, only the state news agency BelTA reported on this, including the fact that the ceremony was attended by several hundred people.
However, all this did not add legitimacy to the Belarusian dictator in the eyes of the leaders of Western democracy. Within hours, Germany, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and other EU countries announced that they do not recognize Lukashenko as the president of Belarus.
Click on the photo to enlarge the image:
The self-proclamation came after seven weeks of massive protests in the country aimed at the dictator’s resignation. All the street actions ended with violent repression, detentions and cruel reprisals, which were repaired by the security forces.
However, Belarusians dissatisfied with the authorities do not give up: they continue to take to the streets and in legitimate defense publish the personal data of the Interior Ministry officials involved in the repression of the protests. The first to take that step were the activists in Brest.
According to observers, Lukashenka’s self-proclamation could become a turning point in the mood of Belarusians and take the fight against the dictator to a more radical level. Furthermore, analysts do not exclude the darker scenario of later events.
In addition to Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years, the Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev has been in power for the longest time in the post-Soviet space, his experience reached three decades, as well as the head of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, who actually He has ruled the country for 28 years. Vladimir Putin’s presidential experience is somewhat more modest: it exceeds two decades.
Read this material in the latest issue of HB magazine – No. 35 of September 24, 2020
