Political unrest continued over the weekend in the former Soviet republic of Belarus.
Tens of thousands of protesters are demanding that President Lukashenko resign. They took to the streets in Minsk.
For his part, a defiant Lukashenko, facing the worst crisis of his 26 years in power, blamed the United States for instigating the demonstrations. The protests began on election night after he was declared the winner with 80% of the vote.
Meanwhile, the European Union is threatening sanctions after declaring the results falsified — offering to mediate the situation along with Russia – an offer Lukashenko has rejected. In short, it’s a geopolitical mess.
To discuss:
- Vladimir Golstein heads the Slavic Studies department at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
- Ulrich Bruckner is a political analyst and Professor of European Studies at Stanford University in Berlin.
- Sasha Razor is a Belarusian-American scholar.
- Eugene Chausovsky is a geopolitical analyst and a Non-resident Fellow at the Center for Global Policy.
For more:
Thousands of people protested against President Aleksandr Lukashenko in Belarus on Sunday. He has indicated repeatedly that he has no intention of succumbing to pressure from the streets. “Until you kill me, there will not be any more elections,” he said. https://t.co/KaLnXAugFP
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 23, 2020
Belarus is gripped by mass protests over the disputed re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko
But who is opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and why have people chosen now to protest against a president who's been in power for 26 years?https://t.co/gnHY1oPthV pic.twitter.com/JsimPs9NQN
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 23, 2020