The Putin Force

2020 Belarusian Protests

As anti-government protesters continue to storm the streets of Belarus for the third consecutive week, the European Union (EU) announced that it will be imposing sanctions on at least 20 senior Belarusian officials, who were allegedly involved in rigging the national election, reported Associated Press. President Alexander Lukashenko may soon feature on the list, EU leaders have said, according to AP.

Soon after the government launched a violent clampdown on protesters, several EU nations — including Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, and Sweden — said they were in favor of sanctions being imposed on the country.

The streets of Belarus’ capital city of Minsk, as well as several other parts of the country, were first overrun by demonstrators earlier this month when long-time leader Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in the national election.

As per data released by the election commission, Lukashenko secured over 80 percent of votes at the poll on August 9, while his main challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya got only 9.9 percent. A day after the election, Tikhanovskaya fled to Lithuania, claiming that she feared for her family’s safety, BBC reported.

Many believe that the 65-year-old leader, who has served as Belarus’ President for 26 years, committed election fraud and vote-rigging to remain in power. Thousands of demonstrators gathered across the country to demand a fresh election and new democratic leadership in the country.

The government immediately snapped into action, deploying riot police to crack down on the dissidents. At least three protesters were killed and thousands were detained during violent stand-offs between demonstrators and law enforcement authorities. 

European Union leaders announced that they were in agreement about imposing sanctions on the senior Belarusian authorities behind the alleged election fraud in the country, and could also include President Alexander Lukashenko on its list at some point.

“We have general agreement on how the list will be structured and who will be, more or less, on the list,” the Czech Republic Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said during a press meeting, AP reported. However, it will take a week or so to sort out the technicalities involved in drawing up a list of this sort.

When asked whether the Belarusian President too, will be blacklisted by the bloc, Petricek said, “Lukashenko should be on the list. The question is whether in the first stage or a later stage if there is no progress.”

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius seconded the views of his Czech counterparts but added that there may be some “tactical reasons” to keep Lukashenko off the list. Some other countries proposed gradually adding more names to the list in order to build pressure.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that he has established a reserve police force, which he will deploy in Belarus if the need arises. The police force was requested by Belarus’ President Lukashenko himself, Putin said, according to a Reuters report.

The force will be sent to Belarus if the political crisis worsens, Putin said, adding that he did not feel that point had been reached as yet.

“We have of course certain obligations towards Belarus, and the question Lukashenko raised was whether we would provide the necessary help,” the Russian President told a state television channel.

“I told him Russia would fulfill all its obligations. Alexander Grigorivich (Lukashenko) asked me to create a reserve police force and I have done that. But we agreed this would not be used unless the situation got out of control,” he added.

Responding to Putin’s announcement, the Belarusian Opposition Coordination Council said that deploying such a police force would violate international laws, Reuters reported.

Soon after Putin announced that he had set up a reserve police force on Belarusian President Lukashenko’s request, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki urged the Russian leader to withdraw his plans of military intervention in Belarus.

“(Poland) urges Russia to immediately withdraw from plans of military intervention in Belarus, under (the) false excuse of ‘restoring control’ – a hostile act, in breach of international law and human rights of Belarusian people, who should be free to decide their own fate,” Morawiecki tweeted, according to a Reuters report.

Belarus police arrested hundreds of protestors and detained journalists Thursday, in an attempt to contain the anti-government demonstrations that have spread throughout the country. At least 13 reporters covering the protests were detained in Minsk, BBC reported.