The Heat: Belarus protests

The Heat

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.

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