What's happening in Belarus?
Belarus is a country that you have probably never heard of. It was part of Russia but its borders were established as an independent country during the turmoil of the Second World War. The former Soviet republic was occupied by the Nazis between 1941 and 1944, when it lost 2.2 million people, including almost all of its large Jewish population. Since 1994, it has been ruled by President Alexander Lukashenko and in 2005, it was listed by the US as Europe's only remaining dictatorship. It is a country that since independence from Russia has faced economic decline and been heavily dependent on Russia for its energy supplies. Belarus has been heavily criticised by rights bodies for suppressing free speech, muzzling the press and denying the opposition access to state media.
Alexander Lukashenko has now won a sixth term as president, however, this has been met with mass stress protests, demanding that he step down as the opposition have said that the election was rigged. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OECD) has not recognised any elections in Belarus as free and fair since 1995, and had previously said it would be monitoring the 2020 vote. Protestors have clashed with riot police running in cities across Belarus as the European Union threatens to reimpose sanctions over suspected vote-rigging and a violent crackdown on demonstrators.
Witnesses reported seeing security forces detaining dozens of people and beating protesters in the street. In footage shared on social media, security forces were seen apparently smashing car windows and dragging people out of vehicles to attack them. Agence France-Presse reporters saw riot police target press photographers, pulling out memory cards from their cameras and breaking lenses. Car horns have been blaring in solidarity with the opposition and people marched, clapping and shouting "go away."
The opposition candidate to Lukashenko is Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. The 37 year old became the leading opposition candidate after a number of prominent candidates were barred. She is the wife of Sergei Tsikhanouski, who was a 41 year old that rose to prominence as a key opposition figure through his "Country for Life" YouTube channel. However, he was detained by authorities early in May, just before announcing on his channel that he planned to stand in the presidential elections. This resulted in his wife continuing the race as an opposition candidate.
She appeared in a video on Tuesday morning to say she had left the country for neighbouring Lithuania for the sake of her children's safety. She said, "You know, I thought that this whole campaign had really toughened me up and given me so much strength that I could handle anything. But, probably, I'm still the weak woman I was in the first place. I have made a very difficult decision for myself." she said, adding that the political unrest was not worth anyone losing their life for. Children are the main thing." Linas Linkevicius, foreign minister of Lithuania, said she is now safe in his country.
The EU has now condemned the outcome of Sunday's election, where Tikhanovskaya came second with 10% despite having staged huge campaign rallies that observers said represented the biggest show of defiance ever seen during Lukashenko's 26 year rule. Brussels said the election had been "neither free nor fair" and warned it could punish those responsible for "violence, unjustified arrests, and falsification of election results." It also accused Lukashenko's government of "disproportionate and unacceptable violence" towards protestors and said it was reviewing its relations with Minks.
The Belarus government said on Tuesday that more than 2,000 people were detained across the country for taking part in unsanctioned protests on Monday night and into the early hours of Tuesday. It added that 21 police officers were injured in clashes with protestors, and five of them were hospitalised. The first fatality was confirmed on Monday when police said a man died after an explosive device went off in his hand. A 24 year old protestor named Denis Kruglyakov stated, "You can shut Tikhanovskaya up, but you won't be able to intimidate and shut an entire nation up."
The internet has remained blocked for the third successive day in the country, in what appears to be an attempt by the authorities to make it harder for protestors to coordinate their efforts and for people to find out what happened to their missing relatives. The White House in the US said it was "deeply concerned" by the violence. Poland offered to act as a mediator between Lukashenko and the opposition and called for an emergency EU summit.
This situation has not helped with the COVID-19 crisis where Lukashenko has refused to take measures, driving discontent. He is facing unprecedented anger over his handling of the economy also. Moscow is continuing to influence the country, even after almost 30 years since the Soviet Union bloc was disseminated. Under Putin, Russia has attempted to cement its influence over Belarus despite sporadic tensions over oil supplies and other issues. Russia sees the country as an important route for oil and gas exports from Russia to Europe and also shares military ties.
Ultimately, Belarus is a country that is in need of help. An opposition candidate has had to flee her home in fear over her safety. Protestors are constructing crude barricades from shopping carts, fencing, breezeblocks and other items found on the street. People are fighting for their right to choose their president. It is unacceptable that a government is shedding the blood of its people and ordering mass arrests for it. This is a serious situation and it needs a profound discussion among the member states.
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