Bielorrusia

Par sa lutte discrète pour la liberté et la démocratie, le peuple biélorusse s’est érigé en modèle de courage et de résilience. Malgré des décennies passées sous le joug d’un régime autoritaire et de sa répression systématique, il poursuit sans relâche sa quête d’une vie de liberté. C’est une bataille qui ne doit pas être oubliée, tout particulièrement dans cette période d’instabilité mondiale.

Les valeurs fondamentales que sont le respect de la dignité humaine et des droits de l’homme, la liberté, la démocratie, l’égalité et l’Etat de droit, sont autant de points d’ancrage qui nous rassemblent, nous, Européens, et nous unissent.…  Seguir leyendo »

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) embraces Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko (L) during the SCTO Summit on 23 November 2023, in Minsk, Belarus. Photo by Contributor/Getty Images.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago caused turbulence for Belarusian ruler Aliaksandr Lukashenka, who was labelled a Putin lackey or co-belligerent. But 2023 has seen somewhat of a turnaround. Lukashenka has pivoted to selling his non-direct involvement as an asset. As Ukrainian intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov grudgingly acknowledged: ’Let’s not absolve Lukashenka, but credit is due for preventing any repeated invasion attempts from Belarus.’

The West, grappling with the war itself, has lost interest in Belarus as a sideshow. Lukashenka’s human rights abuses, while significant, are not regarded on a par with Putin’s war crimes. As the West lacks the ability to influence Lukashenka’s actions, its policy towards the country has narrowed to sanctions and financial support for civil society.…  Seguir leyendo »

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in Lisbon last month. (Manuel De Almeida/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

I was my son’s current age when former Soviet bureaucrat Alexander Lukashenko came to power in Belarus with the help of Russia. He turned our country into a dictatorship and a Russian colony. Parliament was dismissed, political opponents disappeared and the independent media was destroyed. Elections became a hollow ritual, with no real counting of votes. The Belarusian language was pushed out of the public space.

In 2020, my husband decided to challenge Lukashenko for the presidency. He was arrested and eventually sentenced to 18 years in prison. To support him, I decided to run in his place. To the surprise of the dictator and his Russian masters, I won.…  Seguir leyendo »

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at the Kremlin, Moscow, April 2023 Mikhail Klimentyev / Sputnik / Kremlin / Reuters

In mid-September, just two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin startled the West by hosting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a rare summit, he met with another autocrat who has been even more crucial to his war in Ukraine: Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko. Taking note of the new entente with Pyongyang, Lukashenko proposed that he and Putin could now join in a “three-way cooperation” pact with Kim, presumably to help Russia create a broader autocratic bulwark against the West.

With the United States and much of Europe distracted by a new war in the Middle East, the conflict in Ukraine has for the time being receded from view.…  Seguir leyendo »

Un passeport biélorusse. Moscou, août 2020. — © Pavel Golovkin / keystone-sda.ch

Une information qui aura pourtant un impact direct sur des centaines de milliers de personnes en Europe est passée quasiment inaperçue dans la presse francophone. Dans sa guerre sans fin contre les opposants biélorusses en exil, le dictateur Alexandre Loukachenko a signé en ce début de septembre un décret interdisant l’obtention ou le renouvellement des passeports des citoyens et citoyennes biélorusses résidant à l’étranger par le biais des missions diplomatiques.

Imaginez. Vous êtes expatrié en Suisse ou êtes tout simplement binational et votre passeport, autre que suisse, arrive à son échéance. Pour vous, la question ne se pose pas: vous prenez un rendez-vous avec le service consulaire de votre pays, à Genève, Berne ou encore Zurich, pour faire refaire vos documents.…  Seguir leyendo »

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya poses for a portrait in Paris, 2021. (Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images)

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko has announced that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the attempted mutiny against the Kremlin, has arrived in Belarus. It was Lukashenko who mediated the deal between Prigozhin and Russian President Vladimir Putin that brought an end to the march on Moscow by Wagner Group mercenaries. The agreement included a promise of asylum for the deposed Wagner leader — in Belarus.

I feel compelled to point out that no one ever asked the citizens of Belarus for their opinion on this arrangement. The reality is that Prigozhin’s arrival on our soil fills most of us with dread.

Again, we find ourselves dragged unwillingly into the chaos created by Putin’s imperial ambitions.…  Seguir leyendo »

President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus has been boasting of his role in ending the brief mutiny in Russia. James Hill for The New York Times

Belarus’s president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, is trying to get our attention. He is preening himself on the global stage, making the rounds in the media to take credit for brokering an end to the armed mutiny in Russia last weekend. Just weeks before, the Belarusian strongman proudly announced the delivery of the first Russian tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, boasting that he would not hesitate to use them.

We don’t yet know the details of the deal Mr. Lukashenko claims to have brokered. They are probably being rewritten as President Vladimir Putin of Russia shores up his position at home and the mutiny’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin of the Wagner private military company, weighs his options.…  Seguir leyendo »

Exhibición de misiles nucleares durante un desfile conmemorativo de la victoria de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en Moscú. ID1974 / Shutterstock

En 2022 volvió al mundo el fantasma del uso de armas nucleares en el marco de la invasión rusa de Ucrania. Desde entonces, Vladimir Putin ha blandido la espada nuclear de su país sobre Ucrania y Occidente.

Con ello, el presidente ruso trata de obligar a Ucrania a ceder a las demandas de Rusia y de disuadir a la OTAN de intervenir en el conflicto.

En un paso más allá de la amenaza, Putin anunció el pasado 25 de marzo el acuerdo con Bielorrusia para desplegar en este país armas nucleares tácticas, una nueva amenaza en la escalada de tensiones.

Ante esta situación, parece que el Tratado de No Proliferación Nuclear, un intento de salvaguardar al mundo de una catástrofe, se ve amenazado de nuevo.…  Seguir leyendo »

Vladimir Putin last week gave details of Russia’s stated intent to base tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The flurry of alarmist reporting on what this meant highlights much of what is wrong with Western responses to Russian nuclear intimidation.

How Putin’s words have been spun in the West may be a surprise to Moscow — but there’s no doubt it will be a highly gratifying one. Because Russia has already “used” nuclear weapons. It’s used them highly successfully without firing them, by trading on empty threats about potential nuclear strikes to very effectively deter the West from fully supporting Ukraine against Russia’s imperialist war.…  Seguir leyendo »

El activista bielorruso encarcelado Ales Bialiatski es uno de los tres ganadores del Premio Nobel de la Paz. En la imagen, recibiendo un premio por su labor en 2020. TT News Agency/Alamy

En el 70º cumpleaños de Vladimir Putin, el comité del premio Nobel ha reconocido la labor de tres activistas que luchan contra el mandatario ruso y contra los regímenes pro-Putin.

El Nobel de la Paz ha recaído en el activista bielorruso encarcelado Ales Bialiatski, en la organización rusa de derechos humanos Memorial y en el Centro de Libertades Civiles de Ucrania. Los tres ganadores han sido reconocidos por el comité como ejemplos de “derechos humanos, democracia y coexistencia pacífica”.

Cabe destacar que el comité ha premiado a un activista encarcelado por el principal aliado de Putin, a un grupo de derechos humanos ruso que Putin ha intentado cerrar y a un grupo de derechos humanos ucraniano que está documentando los crímenes de guerra rusos.…  Seguir leyendo »

A man visits the grave of his soldier relative in the northern city of Slavutych, home of most of the workers in the Chernobyl nuclear plant. Photograph: Celestino Arce Lavin/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

Odesa is being shelled from the sea and from the territory of Russia, but people do not panic. They live almost normal lives. Like all Ukrainians, they have just celebrated grobki, or “little graves”. These are what we call the special days in spring when we honour the memory of deceased relatives and friends. At this time, all Ukraine dedicates itself to the care of graves in the cemeteries. Some people from Odesa will have removed the old foliage from the graves and also repaired monuments and fences destroyed or damaged by Russian missiles.

Many cemeteries in Ukraine have been destroyed or damaged by Russian troops, including Kyiv’s Berkovtsy Cemetery, near Tupoleva Street, where I grew up.…  Seguir leyendo »

Banning Russian Tennis Players Won’t Stop the War. So Why Is Wimbledon Doing It?

On Wednesday, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (better known as the venue for The Championships at Wimbledon) joined with the British Lawn Tennis Association in banning all Russian and Belarusian players from competing at its event — at least, according to the L.T.A.’s statement, “whilst the current situation continues in accordance with the UK Government guidance in place”. While acknowledging that “individual Russian and Belarusian players may not agree with the actions of their Governments and this is a situation beyond their control”, the statement also said “The continuing participation of Russian and Belarusian nationals at events risks providing a boost to these regimes when there is an unprecedented international effort to isolate them and sanction their actions”.…  Seguir leyendo »

President Alexander Lukashenko attends joint military exercises of the Russian and Belarusian armies near Minsk, a week before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. © Maxim Guchek / Belta / AFP

Without Belarus, Vladimir Putin would not have been able to launch his assault on Kyiv’s suburbs of Bucha, Irpin, Vorzel and Borodyanka – now scenes of unimaginable horror and devastation. In 2020, the president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko made a Faustian pact with Russia’s leader Putin. The latter helped Lukashenko to hold on to power in the face of peaceful mass protests. In exchange, the former allowed Belarus to be used as a launch pad for the invasion of Ukraine. In doing so, Lukashenko made himself complicit in a war of aggression, and any attacks on civilians launched from Belarusian territory.…  Seguir leyendo »

Belarusian special operations forces march in Moscow, May 2015. Jia Yuchen / Xinhua / eyevine / Re​dux

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has turned much of the world against Russia. But one country stands out for its vocal support of Moscow, and for its role as Russia’s main accomplice in the war. Belarus not only served as a staging ground for Russian troops as they prepared to invade Ukraine but allowed Russian missiles to be fired from its soil and opened its hospitals to Russian soldiers injured in combat. Now there are signs that Belarus could become directly involved in the war: Belarusian troops appear to be readying for deployment, and U.S. and NATO officials have warned that they could cross into Ukraine in a matter of days.…  Seguir leyendo »

In order to help Ukraine, it’s time for the West to learn from the mistakes it made in Belarus in 2020. I feel a sense of déjà vu watching Volodymyr Zelensky desperately calling for the world’s attention. He does so even as peaceful cities are being destroyed by missiles launched from my own country, Belarus. This is only possible because when Alexander Lukashenko, a dictator who has run Belarus for more than 27 years, claimed victory over me in a rigged election in our country less than two years ago, the West did too little. Vladimir Putin props up his regime.…  Seguir leyendo »

A protester in support of Ukraine in London last weekend. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock

The Belarusian ruler, Alexander Lukashenko, has played a key role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He has allowed Russian convoys and troops to close in on Kyiv from Belarusian territory and provided military infrastructure, notably airbases that Russian warplanes are using to attack Ukraine. The country is being bombarded by rockets arriving from Belarusian territory.

Belarus’s dictator also provides political support for Russian aggression: Belarus voted against the resolution of the UN general assembly condemning the Russian invasion (alongside Russia, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea), and its state propaganda machine mirrors Russia’s in its justifications. Like its eastern neighbour, the Lukashenko regime is arresting and repressing those who dare protest against war.…  Seguir leyendo »

En la agresión que Vladimir Putin –no Rusia– está perpetrando contra Ucrania en estas horas está pasando desapercibido el papel jugado por lo que, en Derecho Penal, se califica como el cooperador necesario en la comisión de un delito.

En el ilícito internacional de suma gravedad que viola principios estructurales recogidos en la Carta de Naciones Unidas (integridad territorial y soberanía, no injerencia en asuntos internos, prohibición de la amenaza o del uso de la fuerza, igualdad soberana de los Estados, entre otros), Ucrania está sufriendo igualmente la participación de Aleksandr Lukashenko –no de Bielorrusia– como sujeto que participa en la comisión del delito (ilícito internacional) sin ser el ejecutor directo.…  Seguir leyendo »

My morning today didn't start with coffee. My husband, who works for a company in the energy sector, got a phone call from work before the sun had risen. "Russians are shelling us", he was told.

Immediately we heard distant blasts -- most probably the sound of shelling near the capital's Boryspil International Airport. More dire news followed. Russians had attacked Ukraine alongside its eastern and northern border, also from Crimea. There were airstrikes on military infrastructure near big cities, intensive fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Horrible news came from Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, where shelling had damaged a residential building. An artillery explosive also hit Uman town in central Ukraine, far from the borders and uncomfortably close to our home in Kyiv.…  Seguir leyendo »

A Putin le salió mal la jugada con Ucrania

The question is on everyone’s lips. Will President Vladimir Putin go to war against Ukraine? To judge by Russia’s propaganda machine, where media moguls are predicting a victory “in 48 hours,” the answer is an emphatic yes.

Yet the truth is more complex. While Mr. Putin undoubtedly regards Ukraine as little more than a Russian province, as he argued in a lengthy pseudo-historical treatise in July, it’s far from clear his aim was war. Outright conflict — as opposed to sudden swoops, covert operations or hybrid warfare — isn’t really Mr. Putin’s style. It’s probable that the troop buildup in November was an attempt to force the West to relinquish any claims over Ukraine.…  Seguir leyendo »

La crisis de Bielorrusia

La “emergencia” migratoria más reciente de la Unión Europea se ha dado por terminada, de momento. A pesar del ostracismo en el que se encuentra Bielorrusia, Lukashenko consiguió hablar por teléfono con Merkel. Bielorrusia trasladó a la gente que se amontonaba en la frontera con Polonia a unas naves provisionales más protegidas y empezó a repatriar a los iraquíes, que habían pagado enormes sumas de dinero por la promesa de llegar a la UE a través de ese país. Pero la crisis no solo se ha cobrado un precio muy elevado en el sufrimiento de quienes solo querían huir de sus respectivos países —han muerto al menos ocho personas—, sino que es posible que acabe siendo también un duro golpe a la evolución futura política del bloque comunitario, porque ha puesto en tela de juicio la legitimidad de la UE como autoridad política que se apoya en unos valores comunes.…  Seguir leyendo »