The Belarusian leader came close to being impeached in 2020 in large-scale protests against election fraud, but thanks to Putin’s invaluable help, he plans to run again in 2025, though now unrecognized by the West.
Today marks 30 years in power for Alexander Lukashenko, thanks to political, economic and military support from the Kremlin, which turned the former Soviet republic into a protectorate, engaged in the war in Ukraine and against NATO.
Vladimir Putin congratulated his loyal ally in a message today, in which he highlighted his contribution to the friendship between the two countries and the creation of a coordination mechanism with Russia. . Neighbor
“Lukashenko does not rule Belarus, he only manages its territory. All decisions are made in the Kremlin,” former culture minister and exiled opposition leader Pavel Latushko told EFE.
Lukashenko runs his country as a state farm (sovkhoz), which he led for seven years before coming to power on July 20, 1994. At 69, he is already the longest-serving European leader.
With the fight against corruption as his banner, Lukashenko won the elections and the KGB – Belarus is the only former Soviet republic where the secret police maintain this name – violently suppresses any opposition.
“It came in the midst of deep social problems. Belarusians accepted a populist who promised solutions and chose an alliance with Russia,” the opponent explains. Since then, he has earned the nickname “Europe’s Last Dictator” and his country is the only continent where the death penalty is still used.
Lukashenko came close to being ousted in 2020 in large-scale protests against election fraud, but thanks to Putin’s invaluable help, he plans to run again in 2025, though now unrecognized by the West.
“No Americans, no Poles, no Europeans. We don’t care about their opinion, although we are willing to listen to it. We are working for the people,” he said on the eve of the election.
The opposition in exile supports the regime with three pillars: Putin, Belarusians’ fear and paternalism of the state and their almost-planned economy, fueled by subsidized Russian hydrocarbons.
“Lukashenko runs something like a Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. As in the times of the Soviet Union, everything is agreed with Moscow. Foreign and defense policy is completely dependent on the Kremlin,” Latushko points out.
In gratitude to Putin, Lukashenko allowed Russian troops to use Belarusian territory as a base to invade Ukraine in February 2022, making him an ally in the military campaign and an adversary of Kiev.
Subsequently, using the NATO threat argument, Moscow deployed tactical nuclear weapons as a deterrent to Belarus and Putin equated potential aggression against the neighbor with an attack on Russia.
However, according to the opposition, 97% of Belarusians oppose integration with Russia and more than 80% are against their army’s participation in the war in Ukraine.
The opposition accuses Lukashenko of building “a totalitarian system” for 30 years in which he arrested tens of thousands of people, deported more than half a million people, shut down all independent media outlets and destroyed eleven legal political parties and about 1,660 non-political parties. Government bodies.
According to the human rights organization Vyasna (Primavera), some 1,400 political prisoners are held in Belarusian prisons, including its founder and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatsky.
In the last two years, at least six activists have died behind bars.
Latuszko told EFE that the Polish public prosecutor’s office abroad has opened an investigation into assassination attempts against him by a foreign secret service.
On the other hand, the protester pointed out that an independent poll estimated that 65% of Belarusians in Europe’s last Stalinist stronghold support democracy.
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