The situation in Belarus is tense and uncertain. BELARUS is in turmoil following a sham election which has reinstalled the dictator Alexander Lukashenko for a sixth term. For a quarter of a century now, Aleksandr Lukashenko has been offering a master class in dictatorship in Belarus, the country he runs with an iron hand.

Belarus is in crisis and requires not just words but actions from the highest levels of the State Department. They can do more: They can warn Mr. Lukashenko that they do not accept the official results and will not recognize him as the winner unless he calls off his thugs and there is a new and credible election.

At the same time, Belarus has drawn closer to Beijing, from which it received a $500 million loan in December. Lastly, all of us in the West — presidents, prime ministers, parliaments, civil society leaders and the media — must not lose interest in this crisis. Here are some tips. If violence and arrests continue, they should make clear that these sanctions will expand to Belarus’ top 100 government leaders, as well as to critical enterprises, especially those in the military industrial complex.

Most recently, falsified presidential elections in Malawi in mid-2019 triggered massive popular uprisings, the results were annulled, and a rerun of election in 2020 brought to power the opposition challenger. The scenes coming out of Belarus after Sunday’s election are both appalling and inspiring. The last lesson on dictatorship should be that people will not abide tyranny forever, and that when they finally can bear no more, free people elsewhere will come to their side. Women dressed in white and holding flowers have formed human chains in Minsk and other cities to protest the police brutality. Spontaneous strikes broke out in several state-owned factories.

See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. Pompeo and his European counterparts should volunteer to mediate a transitional pact between the Lukashenko regime and opposition leaders.

But after the blatantly rigged election of Aug. 9, the next lesson should be in how dictatorships are brought to an end. Her rallies drew massive crowds, and on Election Day, long lines formed at polling stations.

and U.S. should also call for the immediate release of all those detained. The Trump administration was in the process of restoring an ambassador to Minsk when the crisis struck.

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Putin and Lukashenko have managed a tense, volatile relationship for decades, and Putin might seek to exploit Lukashenko’s vulnerable position now. Sergei Gapon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images.

The man dubbed Europe's "last dictator" has the backing of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who told Lukashenko that Russia was ready to assist Belarus in accordance with a … U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a strong statement Monday, describing the election as neither free nor fair.

Similar precarious moments of stalemate between democrats and dictators in the past show that early Western action can play a positive role in preventing bloodshed and steering both sides toward a peaceful, democratic outcome. Trump can back democracy — or doom millions. A similar story could play out in Belarus. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. thuggish security forces have unleashed brutal attacks, claim he won with some 80 percent of the vote, completely mishandled the coronavirus pandemic, huge turnout at campaign rallies for Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya. Lukashenko has run Belarus, an ex-Soviet nation of 9.5 million, with an iron fist for 26 years. Three college students, Alondra Alvarez, Justina Blanco and Tom Callahan, talked with NBC News' Joshua Johnson about their roles as young voters participating in their first presidential election and the political issues motivating them to fill out their ballots.

The Bush administration famously dubbed Alexander Lukashenko "Europe's last dictator" in 2005.

There is plenty of precedent here.

Belarusians rallying in Minsk in support of opposition to police brutality and the presidential election results, Aug. 14. And the dictator’s prepositioning of special forces to arrest protestors before the vote was confirmed suggests that even he knew that he could not win a free and fair election. security apparatus into a personal machine for crushing any opposition, bringing the parliament, judiciary and media under his firm control and earning the dubious title, “Europe’s last dictator.”. Svetlana Alexievich, the Belarusian Nobel literature laureate, accused Mr. Lukashenko of declaring war on his own people and demanded that he step down. Show full articles without "Continue Reading" button for {0} hours. It is separate from the newsroom.
To underscore the point, Washington should hold off sending a new ambassador to Minsk. Soon afterward she fled to neighboring Lithuania. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. For a quarter of a century now, Aleksandr Lukashenko has been offering a master class in dictatorship in Belarus, the country he runs with an iron hand. Belarus election: Who is dictator Alexander Lukashenko? Inspiring because tens of thousands of Belarusians are returning to the streets night after night and going on strike at their workplaces to say enough is enough — they want a change in leadership after 26 years of the authoritarian, corrupt and incompetent Lukashenko.

On her way to file a formal complaint, Ms. Tikhanovskaya was picked up by the police and, after three hours, made an obviously coerced statement ceding the election and asking people not to protest. This content is currently not available in your region. all of its measures in 2016 in the naïve hope that Lukashenko and the West could somehow return to friendly relations. Appalling because President Alexander Lukashenko’s thuggish security forces have unleashed brutal attacks on protesters in the wake of a clearly rigged election. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. Belarus' dictator is getting desperate. Pope Francis endorses civil unions for same-sex couples in shift for church, Young voters discuss their role in the election, Dr. Tom Inglesby: 'A very dangerous time ahead' due to the renewed surge in Covid-19 cases, Pope rejects proposal to allow married priests in the Amazon, First lady Melania Trump recalls turning down Vogue magazine story, First lady Melania Trump discusses departure of former aide in secretly recorded call, First lady Melania Trump expresses surprise over Vogue selecting Beyonce for 2018 cover, First lady Melania Trump talks about her TV news viewing in secretly recorded call, ‘It’s about respect’: Lawsuit seeks reparations for Tulsa race massacre, From July: Search resumes for possible mass graves from 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, NYC Councilman Ritchie Torres poised to become first openly gay Afro-Latino member of Congress, TikTok teams up with Walmart: What it means for you, ‘Central Park Five’ on proving their innocence 30 years later, 4/20 in 2020: Marijuana market booms amid coronavirus pandemic, Why Trump's fantasy of the American suburb doesn't exist anymore, February: Hard-fought rights of Afghan women at risk.

But Mr. Putin has swallowed all these insults, and he was quick to congratulate Mr. Lukashenko on his “victory.”.

With generous support from Russia, largely in the form of gas and oil at privileged prices, to make sure that he did not turn westward, Mr. Lukashenko managed to retain a measure of popular support by avoiding the chaotic, large-scale privatizations that afflicted Russia and most other former Soviet republics and keeping key industries — and their jobs and patronage — in government hands.


A successful democratic movement in a country with so much shared culture and history is a threat to Putin’s authoritarian system. Even if Lukashenko refuses to participate, others in his regime need to understand that such a process now is the only way to avoid an even more violent, revolutionary change — perhaps exacerbated by Russian military intervention. The regime could lose its grip on power, as has already occurred in other democratic breakthroughs in Serbia 2000, Georgia 2003 and Ukraine 2004. “Belarus will never again want to live under its previous rulers,” Ms. Tikhanovskaya said in a video message from her refuge in Lithuania, calling on the government to start talking about a transfer of power. The huge turnout at campaign rallies for Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, Lukashenko’s leading challenger, reflected the growing discontent with his regime. [Read more on what’s happening in Belarus: protests, police and government.]. Official results of the country's August 9 presidential election had him winning 80% of the vote.