Alexander Lukashenko: Difference between revisions

Line 1:

{{Villain_Infobox

{{Important}}{{Villain_Infobox

|Image = Alexander Lukashenko crop.jpeg

|fullname = Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko

Line 37:

In August 2019, Lukashenko met with former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who has lived in exile in Minsk since 2010, in the Palace of Independence to mark Bakiyev's 70th birthday, which he had marked several days earlier. The meeting, which included the presentation of traditional flowers and symbolic gifts, angered the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry which stated that the meeting "fundamentally does not meet the principles of friendship and cooperation between the two countries". On 29 August, John Bolton, the National Security Advisor of the United States, was received by Lukashenko during his visit to Minsk, which was the first of its kind in 18 years. In November 2019, Lukashenko visited the Austrian capital of Vienna on a state visit, which was his first in three years to an EU country. During the visit, he met with President Alexander Van der Bellen, Chancellor Brigitte Bierlein, and National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka. He also paid his respects at the Soviet War Memorial at the Schwarzenbergplatz.

Mass protests erupted across Belarus following the 2020 Belarusian presidential election which was marred by allegations of widespread electoral fraud. Subsequently, opposition presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya claimed she had received between 60 and 70% of the vote and formed a Coordination council to facilitate the peaceful and orderly transfer of power in Belarus.

On 15 August 2020, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius referred to Lukashenko as the "former president" of Belarus. It was reported that President Lukashenko's authorities asked Kremlin representatives about the possibility of Lukashenko escaping to Russia. Furthermore, it was reported that Russia admits that Lukashenko's resignation from the post of head of state is likely.

On 17 August, the members of the European Parliament issued a joint statement which stated that they do not recognise Alexander Lukashenko as the president of Belarus, considering him to be persona non grata in the European Union. On 19 August, the member states of the European Union agreed to not recognise the results and issued a statement saying "The 9 August elections were neither free nor fair, therefore we do not recognise the results".

The governments of the United States, United Kingdom and Canada have also refused to recognise the results. In an interview on 22 August, Josep Borrell explicitly stated that the European Union does not recognise Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus in the same manner that it does not recognise [[Nicolás Maduro]] as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

In January 2021, an audio recording was released in which the commander of internal troops and deputy interior minister of Belarus [[Mikalai Karpiankou]] tells security forces that they can cripple, maim and kill protesters in order to make them understand their actions. This, he says, is justified because anyone who takes to the streets is participating in a kind of guerrilla warfare. In addition, he discussed the establishment of [[concentration camp]]s, surrounded by barbed wire, where protesters will be detained until the situation calms down. A spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry stamped the audio file as a fake. However, a phonoscopic examination of the audio recording confirmed that the voice on the recording belongs to Karpiankou.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe expressed its concern about the remarks. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, such a camp was indeed used near the town of Slutsk in the days from 13 to 15 August 2020. Many of those detained there are said to have been brought from the Okrestina prison in Minsk.

[[Category:List]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Villain_Infobox
+{{Important}}{{Villain_Infobox
 |Image = Alexander Lukashenko crop.jpeg
 |fullname = Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko
@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 In August 2019, Lukashenko met with former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who has lived in exile in Minsk since 2010, in the Palace of Independence to mark Bakiyev's 70th birthday, which he had marked several days earlier. The meeting, which included the presentation of traditional flowers and symbolic gifts, angered the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry which stated that the meeting "fundamentally does not meet the principles of friendship and cooperation between the two countries". On 29 August, John Bolton, the National Security Advisor of the United States, was received by Lukashenko during his visit to Minsk, which was the first of its kind in 18 years. In November 2019, Lukashenko visited the Austrian capital of Vienna on a state visit, which was his first in three years to an EU country. During the visit, he met with President Alexander Van der Bellen, Chancellor Brigitte Bierlein, and National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka. He also paid his respects at the Soviet War Memorial at the Schwarzenbergplatz.
+Mass protests erupted across Belarus following the 2020 Belarusian presidential election which was marred by allegations of widespread electoral fraud. Subsequently, opposition presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya claimed she had received between 60 and 70% of the vote and formed a Coordination council to facilitate the peaceful and orderly transfer of power in Belarus.
+On 15 August 2020, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius referred to Lukashenko as the "former president" of Belarus. It was reported that President Lukashenko's authorities asked Kremlin representatives about the possibility of Lukashenko escaping to Russia. Furthermore, it was reported that Russia admits that Lukashenko's resignation from the post of head of state is likely.
+On 17 August, the members of the European Parliament issued a joint statement which stated that they do not recognise Alexander Lukashenko as the president of Belarus, considering him to be persona non grata in the European Union. On 19 August, the member states of the European Union agreed to not recognise the results and issued a statement saying "The 9 August elections were neither free nor fair, therefore we do not recognise the results".
+The governments of the United States, United Kingdom and Canada have also refused to recognise the results. In an interview on 22 August, Josep Borrell explicitly stated that the European Union does not recognise Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus in the same manner that it does not recognise [[Nicolás Maduro]] as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
+In January 2021, an audio recording was released in which the commander of internal troops and deputy interior minister of Belarus [[Mikalai Karpiankou]] tells security forces that they can cripple, maim and kill protesters in order to make them understand their actions. This, he says, is justified because anyone who takes to the streets is participating in a kind of guerrilla warfare. In addition, he discussed the establishment of [[concentration camp]]s, surrounded by barbed wire, where protesters will be detained until the situation calms down. A spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry stamped the audio file as a fake. However, a phonoscopic examination of the audio recording confirmed that the voice on the recording belongs to Karpiankou.
+The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe expressed its concern about the remarks. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, such a camp was indeed used near the town of Slutsk in the days from 13 to 15 August 2020. Many of those detained there are said to have been brought from the Okrestina prison in Minsk.
 [[Category:List]]