A rally in support of the embattled Belarusian president was dwarfed by an opposition protest more than 100,000 strong. Alexander Lukashenko said NATO is building up its military on the country’s western border.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Sunday accused NATO of deploying tanks and planes to Belarus’ western border, a claim the military alliance rejected.
Speaking at a rally of his supporters in central Minsk, the 65-year-old leader dismissed opposition calls for a new election and urged Belarusians to defend their country.
“I called you here not to defend me, but for the first time in a quarter-century, to defend your country and its independence,” he said to the estimated 5,000 strong crowd, just as tens of thousands of protesters once again hit the streets in several cities demanding his ouster.
Opposition presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to neighboring Lithuania on Tuesday, wants an election recount and is forming a national council to facilitate a power transfer.
NATO denies build-up
NATO said it was closely monitoring events in Belarus, but denied a military buildup was underway in eastern Europe.
“NATO’s multinational presence in the eastern part of the Alliance is not a threat to any country. It is strictly defensive, proportionate, and designed to prevent conflict and preserve peace,” a NATO spokeswoman said in a statement.
#NATO is closely monitoring the situation in #Belarus. As Secretary General @jensstoltenberg has said, fundamental freedoms must be respected, including freedom of speech & the right to peaceful protest. 1/2
— Oana Lungescu (@NATOpress) August 16, 2020
Belarus has been rocked by demonstrations since last Sunday when Lukashenko claimed victory in a presidential election his opponents say was rigged. Two people have died in the protests and thousands have been arrested.
Unrest ’caused by foreign interference’
Lukashenko, who has led the former Soviet state for 26 years, denies election fraud. He says foreign interference is to blame for the unrest.
Video: Scenes from Belarus as thousands take to the streets to defend their vote
“If we kowtow to them, we will go into a tailspin,” he told his supporters. “We will perish as a state, as a people, as a nation.”
“The motherland is in danger!” one speaker told the crowd, as people chanted “We are united,” and waved the national flag.
“I’m for Lukashenko,” Alla Georgievna, 68, told Reuters news agency. “I don’t understand why everyone has risen up against him. We get our pensions and salaries on time thanks to him.”
Opposition marches draw huge crowds
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters were holding a nationwide “March for Freedom” to renew pressure on Lukashenko to step down.
Here is a better view of the huge protest in Minsk today. Protests taking place in other cities around the country as well. This after Lukashenko said today that the opposition can’t ignore the opinion of the “majority” – referring to his supporters. pic.twitter.com/QFSKZHleV7 https://t.co/SfOLmRuuV9
— Emily Sherwin (@EmilyCSherwin) August 16, 2020
In Minsk, where The Associated Press estimated more than 100,000 people turned out, columns of protesters raised victory signs and held flowers and balloons. Many wore white, the color that has come to symbolize the opposition movement.
Demonstrators held placards with slogans such as “We are against violence” and “Lukashenko must answer for the torture and dead.”
Other major towns and cities in the ex-Soviet country of 9 million also saw large rallies, local media reported, on the ninth straight day of anti-government protests.
EU Commission Vice President Josep Borrell praised the protests in a tweet, saying: “Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians were out today demonstrating peacefully, demanding the release of political prisoners, prosecution of those responsible for police brutality, and real elections.”
“The EU stands by the Belarusian people,” he added.
Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians were out today demonstrating peacefully, demanding release of political prisoners, prosecution of those responsible for police brutality, and real elections.
The EU stands by the Belarusian people.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 16, 2020
French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU should support the anti-government demonstrations in Belarus.
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“The European Union must continue to be mobilized in support of the hundreds of thousands of Belarusians who are protesting peacefully for the respect of their rights, liberty and sovereignty,” Macron said on his Twitter feed.
L’Union européenne doit continuer de se mobiliser aux côtés des centaines de milliers de Biélorusses qui manifestent pacifiquement pour le respect de leurs droits, de leur liberté et de leur souveraineté.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 16, 2020
DW’s Moscow correspondent Emily Sherwin tweeted that there are signs that the state TV channel could flout government control after several high-profile staff resigned and broadcasts included more coverage of the protests.
Even Belarus state TV is showing images from today’s opposition protest, which would have been completely unthinkable before. In recent days several well-known presenters quit. There are reports that some at main state TV station plan to either join strikes or flout gov control pic.twitter.com/eD5aB4EFK8
— Emily Sherwin (@EmilyCSherwin) August 16, 2020
Russia offers security assistance
Earlier on Sunday, Russia said it had offered Belarus military assistance if necessary. Moscow also said external pressure was being applied to the country, but did not say where from.
Lukashenko told state TV he would move an air assault brigade to Belarus’ western border. According to the RIA news agency, the Belarusian army also plans to hold weeklong drills to strengthen the country’s borders with Poland and Lithuania starting on Monday.
EU sanctions to target ‘specific’ officials
The European Union says the presidential vote was neither free nor fair, and is preparing to impose sanctions over the post-election crackdown.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that the sanctions are designed to target specific individuals.
“This is not about economic sanctions, which would primarily affect the Belarusian population, but we as the EU want to punish specific individuals proven to have been involved in rigging the election and violence against demonstrators,” Maas said.
DW / Balkantimes.press
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