Latest news with #Tikhanovskaya
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Belarus opposition leader calls for Radio Free Europe to stay on air
The Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has called for US foreign broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) to keep broadcasting, despite its uncertain future. "Free media are our link between the truth, between the people in exile and the people in the country," she said in a speech in the Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday. "If these media die, they will be replaced by propaganda media." Tikhanovskaya, who lives in exile in the European Union, was referring to the dramatic moves by the new administration in Washington. "RFE/RL is threatened with closure following funding cuts by US President Donald Trump's administration. Several European countries, led by the Czech Republic, are discussing ways in which RFE/RL can be preserved," she said. RFE/RL began broadcasting during the Cold War and has had an office in Lithuania from which it covers neighbouring Belarus since the beginning of 2023. The dissemination and use of its news has been a criminal offence in Belarus since Minsk declared the broadcaster an "extremist organization" in 2021. In August 2020, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, in office since 1994, was again declared the winner of the presidential election, unleashing mass protests that were brutally suppressed. The opposition, however, saw Tikhanovskaya as the real winner. The EU no longer recognizes Lukashenko as head of state. He is considered to be completely dependent on Russian President Vladimir Putin. RFE/RL's Vilnius office is staffed by Belarusian journalists who went into exile like Tikhanovskaya after the 2020 elections. They produce television and radio programmes in Belarusian, which are also broadcast online. The programmes are broadcast from the RFE/RL broadcasting centre in Prague, where the station has been based since 1995. The centre also makes programmes in Russian, Ukrainian and other languages, reaching nearly 50 million people in 23 countries every week, the broadcaster said. Since taking office, Trump has drastically cut funding for numerous government offices that focus on domestic and international affairs alike. This, combined with Washington's pivot to Russia, is deeply worrying to many in Europe, particularly as the Kremlin's war on Ukraine rages on.
Express Tribune
27-01-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Lukashenko extends three-decade Belarus rule, West denounces vote
MINSK: Belarus autocrat Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, won a seventh consecutive term in office Sunday in an election denounced by the European Union and the exiled opposition. With his opponents in prison or exiled, the 70-year-old ruler appeared to have won 87.6 percent of the vote, according to an official exit poll. Lukashenko has orchestrated a ruthless crackdown on opponents since huge protests against him in 2020. This time around, the candidates picked to run against him actually campaigned in his favour. Exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya called the election a "farce", while the EU described it as a "sham". Lukashenko, however, said he did not care whether or not the bloc recognised the results. And he had "no regrets" over letting his "older brother" Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops enter Ukraine through Belarus in 2022 -- despite hundreds of thousands of deaths in the three-year conflict. The vote took place five years into a wave of heightened repression in Belarus, during which time rights groups say the country has jailed more than 1,200 political prisoners. In Sunday's election victory he won more of the vote than in 2020, when he won 81.04 percent. Belarus's 2020 election ended in nationwide protests with demonstrators accusing Lukashenko of rigging the vote. Tens of thousands of Belarusians fled their country in the aftermath of the 2020 protests as the KGB embarked on a repression spree, mainly to neighbouring Poland and Lithuania. Lukashenko said Sunday his opponents were behind bars or abroad out of choice. "Some chose prison, some exile," he said. "If it is prison then it's those who opened their mouths too widely," he added. Repenting and asking for pardon were preconditions for any prisoner releases, he said during a news conference that lasted four hours and 25 minutes. In Warsaw, home to many exiled Belarusians, opposition leader Tikhanovskaya described Lukashenko as a "criminal who has seized power". Many people wore masks and some refused to speak to AFP, explaining they had relatives in Belarus and criticism could make trouble for them. "It's just a country with the illusion of choice," 22-year-old student Aliaxandra said, adding that some of her compatriots had been living in fear "for decades". Tikhanovskaya told AFP in an interview this month she wanted dissidents to be ready for an opportunity for change in Belarus. But she admitted that it was "not the moment". AFP
Boston Globe
26-01-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Belarus's strong-arm leader Lukashenko cruises to reelection
Unlike in 2020, when Tikhanovskaya was allowed to run against Lukashenko and declared herself the winner, Sunday's election was a tightly controlled and tame affair, featuring only candidates loyal to the president. None expressed any desire to actually defeat Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994. Advertisement Tikhanovskaya, out of the country since 2020, did not take part in Sunday's election and was instead in Warsaw, Poland, leading a protest against Lukashenko, who mocked her efforts and claimed that US President Trump had cut off funding to her opposition movement in exile. He appeared to be referring to an executive order last week that halted virtually all foreign aid for a 90-day reassessment period. Three candidates running against Lukashenko, according to the exit poll, garnered less than 2 percent of the vote each. A fourth, the leader of the Communist Party, Sergei Syrankov, captured 2.7 percent. At a televised election debate last week, which the president did not join, Syrankov, saying he wanted to be 'honest,' acknowledged: 'Everyone in this studio knows that Alexander Lukashenko is going to win.' With all of Lukashenko's prominent opponents either in jail or in exile and Belarus's media outlets all cheering for the incumbent, the result was a foregone conclusion. But it is one that still mattered to the president, who is eager to show his country — and also President Vladimir Putin of Russia — that the turmoil of 2020 has been tamed. Advertisement In a statement Sunday, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, described the election as a 'sham' that 'has been neither free, nor fair.' But foreign election observers, drawn from far-right political parties like Alternative for Germany and other pro-Russian groups, hailed the vote as a triumph for democracy and denounced tart criticism of the election by the European Parliament and other institutions. 'They say that there is a dictatorship here, but I don't think so — the reality in Belarus is completely different,' Krastyo Vrachev, an observer representing a fringe nationalist party from Bulgaria, told Belarus's state news agency. 'People are calm and communicate with ease, in Europe this is not at all the case,' he added. The election was certainly calm, so much so that Lukashenko barely bothered to campaign, saying he was too busy to take part in a debate with four, state-selected rival candidates or to hold rallies. In a nod to conventional politics, however, last week he signed a decree raising pensions by 10 percent starting Feb. 1. A recent survey of public opinion in Belarus by Chatham House, a British research group, indicated widespread dissatisfaction with the economy, which has been hit hard by economic sanctions imposed on the country over its support for Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Just 11 percent of respondents were definitely satisfied with the economy, while only 32 percent said they supported Russia's invasion. Lukashenko's main appeal, according to the survey, is his 'favorable image' as a 'politician striving to prevent Belarus from being involved in the military conflict following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.' Advertisement Russian troops used Belarus as a staging ground for an initial, abortive thrust toward Kyiv in early 2022, but Lukashenko has resisted pressure from Moscow to send Belarus's troops to join the fight against Ukraine. After casting his vote Sunday in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, Lukashenko predicted that 'there will be some kind of resolution this year,' to the conflict, adding that Trump 'is not an idiot, not a fool' and recognizes that 'you can't push us around,' referring to Belarus and Russia. 'We will see light at the end of the tunnel this year,' he said of the war. While delighting in taunting the West, particularly neighboring Poland, and displaying his loyalty to Russia, Lukashenko has in recent months signaled a desire to improve frosty relations with Western capitals by releasing political prisoners. This process, widely seen as an effort to get relief from Western sanctions, continued Friday when Lukashenko pardoned 15 more prisoners, including five people jailed for 'extremist crimes,' a blanket term used to describe criticism of the president. The names of those released were not made public. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a social media post Sunday, indicated that they included a US citizen whom he identified as Anastasia Nuhfer 'who was taken under JOE BIDEN!' he said in the post. Rubio said Nuhfer had been 'unilaterally released' thanks to Trump's leadership. At a news conference in Minsk on Sunday, Lukashenko denied that he was releasing prisoners to curry favor abroad, saying, 'I don't give a damn about the West.' He said his decision to set some people free 'is based on the principle of humanity.' Advertisement None of Lukashenko's most prominent opponents, who include Tikhanovskaya's husband, Sergei, have been set free. The United States and European Union have left sanctions in place. This article originally appeared in
Yahoo
26-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lukashenko extends three-decade rule in election denounced by West
Belarus autocrat Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, won a seventh consecutive term in office Sunday in an election denounced by the European Union and the exiled opposition. With his opponents in prison or exiled, the 70-year-old ruler appeared to have won 87.6 percent of the vote according to an official exit poll. Lukashenko has orchestrated a ruthless crackdown on opponents since huge protests against him in 2020. This time around, the candidates picked to run against him actually campaigned in his favour. Exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya called the election a "farce", while the EU described it as a "sham". Lukashenko, however, said he did not care whether or not the bloc recognised the results. And he had "no regrets" over letting his "older brother" Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops enter Ukraine through Belarus in 2022 -- despite hundreds of thousands of deaths in the three-year conflict. The vote took place five years into unprecedented repression in Belarus, during which time rights groups say the country has jailed more than 1,200 political prisoners. In Sunday's election victory he won more of the vote than in 2020, when he won 81.04 percent. - The 'illusion of choice' - Belarus's 2020 election ended in nationwide protests with demonstrators accusing Lukashenko of rigging the vote. Tens of thousands of Belarusians fled their country in the aftermath of the 2020 protests as the KGB embarked on a repression spree, mainly to neighbouring Poland and Lithuania. Lukashenko said Sunday his opponents were behind bars or abroad out of choice. "Some chose prison, some exile," he said. "If it is prison then it's those who opened their mouths too widely," he added. Repenting and asking for pardon were preconditions for any prisoner releases, he said during a news conference that lasted four hours and 25 minutes. In Warsaw, home to many exiled Belarusians, opposition leader Tikhanovskaya described Lukashenko as a "criminal who has seized power". Many people wore masks and some refused to speak to AFP, explaining they had relatives in Belarus and criticism could make trouble for them. "It's just a country with the illusion of choice," 22-year-old student Aliaxandra said, adding that some of her countrymen had been living in fear "for decades". Tikhanovskaya told AFP in an interview this month she wanted dissidents to be ready for an opportunity for change in Belarus. But she admitted that it was "not the moment". - 'Peace in this country' - Her allies in Belarus are held in harsh prisons -- often incommunicado and in isolation. Lukashenko accused imprisoned protest leader Maria Kolesnikova -- who tore up her passport during a forced deportation by the KGB in 2020 -- of "breaking" prison rules. He said he personally gave the order for Kolesnikova to be "shown to the people" last November -- when photos of her were released in a first sign of life for over a year. Fears for the health of Kolesnikova -- who was hospitalised while in prison -- have risen for months, but Lukashenko said: "She is fine." Most people in the landlocked country have only distant memories of life before Lukashenko, who was 39 when he won the first national election after Belarus gained independence from the Soviet Union. Criticism of the strongman is banned. Most people AFP spoke to in Minsk and other towns voiced support for him. In Minsk, 74-year-old pensioner Nadezhda Guzhalovskaya said she voted for Lukashenko due to a lack of other options. "Maybe everything here is not perfect, we don't have democracy," admitted Guzhalovskaya. But Irina Lebedeva said that "thanks to our president there is peace in this country," repeating the government's position that the 2020 street protest leaders had created chaos. - Reliant on Russia - The United Nations estimates that some 300,000 Belarusians have left the country since 2020 out of a population of nine million. They will not be able to cast ballots, with Belarus having scrapped voting abroad. In the run-up to the election, the Lukashenko administration pardoned around 200 political prisoners. But former inmates told AFP those released were under the close watch of security services and unable to lead a normal life. Known as "Europe's last dictator" -- a nickname he embraces -- Lukashenko's Belarus has retained much of the Soviet Union's traditions and infrastructure. If he completes his term, which would finish in 2030, he will have been in power for 36 years. bur-rbj-oc/jj
