Mass protests in Belarus

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 24 Aug 2020 by Alex Teddy
On August 23 tens of thousands of people protested in Minsk demanding that the president resign and fair elections be held. The opposition claimed it was over 100 000 people. The protests were almost entirely peaceful. The police watched but did not intervene against the illegal protests. Why? It is likely owing to the police being ordered to tone down any physical intervention - rather than the crowd being too enormous. However, some police may be becoming at least neutral in the battle of wills between the president and the opposition. Rain ensured that the protests were brief. The army said it would protect war memorials from vandalism. None occurred. Lukashenka later had himself photographed in body armor holding a rifle. He denounced the demonstrators as 'rats'. He earlier said they should have 'their necks rung.'Major army drills are due on August 28 along the border with the EU. The president said that the US and EU are behind the protests.Some state TV journalists have resigned in protest. Lukashenka brought in Russian staff to replace them. He has accused the opposition of wanting to ban the Russian language, split the Orthodox Church and join NATO - accusations stemming from a supposed manifesto associated with the opposition steering committee Coordination Council under Svitlana Tsikhanouskaya. These moves would all be unacceptable to Russia and he is hoping for maximum Russian backing. Lukashenka is trying to portray the situation as being like Ukraine in 2014. He does not want to be absorbed into Russia but for him that would be better than being overthrown. The EU has assured Belarussians that this is not like Ukraine 2014. The opposition in Ukraine are n...

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