Protests in Belarus continue as the European leaders initiate joint action
This Sunday, August 16, close to 200 000 people joined a peaceful protest in Minsk, continuing the demands for re-elections and resignation of Alexander Lukashenko. On the same day, a significantly smaller pro-government rally (approximately 10 times smaller, as illustrated, but according to sources citing the Belarussian ministry of interior attended by nearly 65 000 people) took place in the center. Although, according to an independent news outlet KYKY.org, the people joining pro-governmental rally were “gathered” to the capital by buses from different regions.
Mr. Lukashenko attended the event in person, and in his speech asserted that the country’s independence will “perish” in the case of re-elections, and even if he would be dead, he would not let anyone to “give away” the country he has built over the years of his presidency. In his words, the protests are spurred by “NATO leadership”, with military forces “15 minutes away from [Belarussian] borders”, a claim that was already denied by the officials.
Several enterprises and the national channel Belarus 1 have also joined the protests. However, the interim president stated that striking factories “make little difference”. In fact, at the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant protest, according to Vesti.ru, the interim president has suggested to “recount” the votes. When the protesters refused, claiming that the president of the country should resign, Mr. Lukashenko commented that the only way for the elections to take place again would only be by amendments to the constitution.
The member states of the European Union are preparing sanctions against the officials responsible for violence in the suppression of the first protests. Nevertheless, RIA News regarded the “individual character” of sanctions strange and suspicious, explaining that such measures will not decrease the popular support of the interim government, since they should not affect the citizens themselves. Thus, the conclusion that the Western Bloc does not seek or support the resignation of Alexander Lukashenko.
On the other hand, another news outlet, Vesti.ru, affirmed that the EU Parliament does not recognize the results of the Belorussian elections, making Mr. Lukashenko a “persona non-grata” in the member-states. The same outlet claims that “leading Western intelligence agencies” are becoming concerned with the situation in Belarus, following a common goal to “topple Lukashenko and clean up the current political elite”, while Svetlana Tsikhanovskaia is mere “plasticine” in the hands of Lithuania, citing editor-in-chief of the magazine "National Defense" Igor Korotchenko.
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