Key Events: April 26 - May 2
Top Stories
Women march on the outskirts of Minsk in memory of Chernobyl
Several dozen women, dressed in black and carrying black umbrellas and yellow and black ribbons, staged a demonstration in memory of the Chernobyl disaster in the Malinauka district on the outskirts of Minsk, where many of the families evacuated from the disaster area were settled. Later in the day, military and police forces flooded Minsk downtown and arrested about 20 people.
External attempts to destabilize situation in Belarus described as threat to CSTO
Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Stanislav Zas made a statement after the session that took place in Tajikistan on 27 April. In the statement, he blamed the Western countries and, NATO in particular, for destabilizing the domestic situation in Belarus, which, in his mind, produces a threat to the entire organization. Zas remarked that the unresolved conflict in Ukraine’s southeast remains a serious challenge to stability in the post-Soviet space.
Russia claims involvement of another state in preparations for coup in Belarus
(BelTA) – “The scale of preparations for the coup in Belarus, including the assassination of President Aleksandr Lukashenka and the disruption of the power grid’s operation, testifies that a foreign state had planned the coup”. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov stated on the air of the Russian TV - Channel One.
In his interview with Euronews news agency, the Belarus Foreign Affairs minister Vladimir Makei defends the regime’s violent response to the post-election protest. While admitting to the violations of human rights in Belarus, he justifies those actions were necessary in order to avoid a planned coup and preserve Belarus’ statehood.
Dmitry Peskov said that the scale of conspiracy involved not simply the liquidation of the president, the taking of his family as hostages but such complicated actions as the shutdown and blocking of the country’s entire power grid. Lukashenka’s official story remains that there’s a US-backed plot to assassinate him. Authoritarian leader says he had foiled both the US-planned coup and assassination. Currently, nine people have been charged with ‘conspiracy or other actions committed for the purpose of seizing state power’. KGB investigators have sent requests for their extradition to the countries where they reside, among them former members of Belarus internal security and counter-terrorism forces.
Belarus and Europe
Apr 27-29: Belarus discussed in meetings between Tsikhanouskaya, OSCE mission heads, Polish President, Polish Prime Minister, EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement
In the meeting with the OSCE mission in Vienna, Mrs. Tsikhanouskaya drew attention to the cases of torture in Belarus and discussed the role the organization may play as the mediator with the regime of Lukashenka. Heads of the mission of Germany, France, Great Britain, United States, Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic, and Poland discussed their support for The Moscow Mechanism.
The talks between Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Polish President Andrzej Duda addressed the continuing political repression in Belarus, the persecution of Poles in the country, the role of the OSCE, the UN Human Rights Council, and a return to the observance of human rights in Belarus. The same day, the crisis in Ukraine and the political strife in Belarus were discussed at talks between the Polish Prime Minister and Oliver Varhelyi, the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement.
In the resolution adopted on April 28, European Parliament condemned the Kremlin’s support of undemocratic repressive regimes in Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Syria, and Belarus, expressed concern about the political arrests of Belarusians in Russia and their subsequent extradition to Belarus, and called out Russia’s support for targeted persecution of national minority organizations, including the Union of Poles, in Belarus. The resolution calls to disconnect Russia from the SWIFT interbank payment information system, to stop the construction of Nord Stream-2, to cancel oil and gas imports from Russia, and to freeze the European assets of “oligarchs close to the Russian authorities.”
Apr 29: Austria Foreign Minister Schallenberg commits to EU sanctions on Belarus
Minister Schallenberg spoke about Austria’s mediation role after he held a meeting with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. “The pressure on the Belarusian regime must be maintained and the civil society must be supported”, Schallenberg said. Schallenberg also said that OSCE should mediate in the process of applying sanctions if Lukashenka’s regime continues to use disproportionate force against protesting civilians.
Inside Belarus
Apr 27: Tentative date set for the referendum on constitutional amendments
Lidziya Yarmoshyna, the chairwoman of Belarus’s Central Election Commission, said that the referendum on amendments to the Belarusian Constitution is likely to be held in January or February 2022. January 16, the date of local elections, is the most likely date.
Apr 27: Belarus’ Customs refuses to clear Skoda vehicles imported across EAEU customs border
Belarus continues the retaliation campaign against the companies which threatened to withdraw from sponsoring the ice hockey world championship. Their decision ultimately led to having Belarus stripped of the right to host the championship in January. Skoda, a part of Volkswagen Group, was among the companies that expressed concerns over the state-sponsored violence and the COVID-19 situation in Belarus. And now Belarusian State Customs Committee is refusing to provide customs clearance for imported Skoda vehicles.
Apr 28: Lukashenka’s succession gambit: Kremlin capitulation or power play?
Lukashenka has announced an upcoming decree that would change the rules for the succession of the presidential powers. While the Prime Minister would still become acting President as required by the Belarusian constitution, in the event of Lukashenka’s death or incapacitation the real power would be vested in the 20-member Security Council.
Protests and Repressions
Apr 30: Belarus Olympian to go on hunger strike as political protest https://www.cbs17.com/news/belarus-olympian-to-go-on-hunger-strike-as-political-protest/
Andrei Krauchanka, an Olympic silver medalist, is going on a 10-day hunger strike to support victims of political repression in the country. He also said that he is selling his European indoor decathlon gold medal from 2011 to help the families of political prisoners.
Apr 29: Watchdog says Belarusian Unions targeted amid crackdown
Amnesty International says Belarusian workers are facing reprisals in their attempts to set up independent labor unions. Belarus, where workers at state enterprises represent 90 percent of the working population, is a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and a state party to all fundamental ILO conventions. The UN labor agency has repeatedly drawn attention to violations of the rights to freedom of assembly and association in the country.
“Belarus has retained distinctly Soviet features since the break-up of the USSR. This includes the total domination of the economy by the state, which remains the biggest national employer and seeks to exercise effective control over all trade unions. The state-run trade unions, which effectively lack any independence, act more like a branch of government than the protector of workers,” said Heather McGill, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Researcher.
Apr 27-30: The number of political prisoners in Belarus reached 360
The leader of Belarusian Greens Dzmitry Kuchuk has been sentenced to 15 days of arrest. Alyaksandr Aranovich, a participant of Syarhey Tsikhanouski’s Country for Life campaign, has been sentenced to six years in prison. A trial for Sevyarynets, Kazlou, European Belarus activists is scheduled for May 12. The number of political prisoners in Belarus has reached 360.
Interesting Reading
May 2: Chronicling the bloody Belarus crackdown is an imperative for online news editor, despite pressure
Apr 29: IFEX. Press and civil society under pressure from Europe and Central Asia’s “strongmen”
From Belarus to Central Asia, the situation with free press becomes ever more dire as the former USSR satellite countries continue their descent into full-scale authoritarianism.
Apr 28: Rights group Freedom House warns of “antidemocratic turn” in Europe, Eurasia