Bielorrusia (Continuación)

Migrants stand in front of Belarusian servicemen as they gather in a camp near the Belarusian-Polish border in the Grodno region. Photo by OKSANA MANCHUK/BELTA/AFP via Getty Images.

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When thousands of migrants began freezing to death in the forests on the Belarus border with Poland, Belarusian leader Aliaksandr Lukashenka was forcing the European Union (EU) into a tough choice – either give in to blackmail and welcome migrants whose attempts to trespass the EU border were a result of his policy of luring them to Belarus to put pressure on the EU, or keep the borders closed and declare solidarity with Poland despite its known mistreatment and illegal pushbacks of potential asylum-seekers.

Lukashenka’s action was aptly exploiting three key pressure points of the EU – as a normative power where the human dignity of migrants is overlooked while the European border and coastguard agency Frontex stands by, as a geopolitical actor seeking to externalize its migration problem by signing readmission agreements with transit countries, and as a community of values with the EU-Poland dispute over rule of law.…  Seguir leyendo »

Migrants gather in a camp near Bruzgi-Kuznica checkpoint on the Belarusian-Polish border in the Grodno region, Belarus, November 18, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

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What’s going on at the border between Belarus and Poland?

Since the late summer, women, men and children, most of them Kurds from northern Iraq, have gathered at the Polish-Belarusian border. They are hoping to cross into the European Union (EU) in Poland and, in most cases, move on to Germany, where many have relatives or acquaintances. In the last month, most of the migrants made camp near the Bruzgi Kuznica crossing in the Grodno region of Belarus. Poland has refused to let them cross into its territory and declared a state of emergency in its border areas. Brussels has backed Warsaw.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europe Made a Deadly Bargain With Autocrats. Here’s What Happened

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It’s shocking to see. Children huddle over precariously built bonfires and parents hold babies to their chests while soldiers, behind thickets of razor wire, look on impassively. But the images from the Belarus-Poland border, however harrowing, shouldn’t be surprising: This is what the European Union’s migration policy looks like.

Without doubt, the greatest share of blame for this humanitarian catastrophe — in which thousands of migrants, many from Iraq and Syria, were penned into a freezing forest for weeks on end — lies with Belarus’s leader, Aleksandr Lukashenko. In apparent retaliation for E.U. sanctions against his regime, his government shepherded people to the heavily fortified Polish border, where they faced only hardship and suffering.…  Seguir leyendo »

La mano que mece la cuna bielorrusa

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Desde que Alexander Lukashenko se negara a reconocer su derrota electoral en las elecciones de agosto del año pasado, sus actuaciones se han caracterizado por una brutalidad sin igual. Los líderes opositores, incluida la ganadora de las elecciones, Svetlana Tijanovskaya, han sido detenidos o forzados al exilio, y los miles de personas detenidos en el marco de las protestas han sido objeto de torturas, brutales palizas e incluso abusos sexuales. La deriva del régimen de Lukashenko llevó el pasado mes de mayo a un insólito acto de piratería aérea, al forzar el aterrizaje en Minsk de un vuelo de Ryanair con origen en Atenas basándose en una falsa amenaza de bomba con el objeto de encarcelar al periodista crítico con el régimen Roman Protasevich.…  Seguir leyendo »

Policía polaca, en la frontera con Bielorrusia.

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Polonia, Lituania y Letonia son, por este orden, los países agredidos. Bielorrusia, el ejecutor del ataque. Y Rusia, la más que probable cabeza pensante de una operación en la que inmigrantes traídos de Irak y Siria son la munición que emplea Minsk.

Ese es, a grandes rasgos, el reparto de papeles en la actual crisis en las fronteras orientales de la Unión Europea. Conviene tenerlo claro porque la situación diplomática, militar y humanitaria se complicará en los próximos días. Y cuanto más inconsistente y cacofónica sea la respuesta europea, mayor será el incentivo para que Bielorrusia aumente la presión fronteriza (y con ella el drama humanitario), y Rusia contemple la posibilidad de tensionar otros frentes como el ucraniano o el del suministro de gas a Europa.…  Seguir leyendo »

Outside a cafe in Oktyabrskaya Street in Minsk, Belarus, part of the Tsekh art space, bars, and cafes are located in a former iron foundry. Photo by Natalia Fedosenko\TASS via Getty Images.

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Despite clear authoritarianism, for many years Belarus maintained an image of a united, homogeneous country – territorially, ethnically, religiously, and economically. Unlike many of its neighbours such as Russia and Ukraine, it kept economic stratification to a minimum and – unlike other Eastern Partnership countries – Belarus suffered no territorial dispute.

But the political crisis unfolding since 2020 has begun to split Belarusians more fundamentally, revealing a societal rift which is deeper than simply between supporters and detractors of the country’s president Aliaksandr Lukashenka. The demarcation line polarizing Belarusian society concerns its people’s core values.

The division is uneven because new sociological research on Belarusian society conducted by the Chatham House Belarus Initiative shows those who support Lukashenka make up only one-quarter of the population, while the rest is evenly divided between supporters of the protest movement and more passive ‘observers’.…  Seguir leyendo »

Service members from India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia and Russia pose during joint Russian-Belarusian drills on the Mulino training ground in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia, on Sept. 9, in a photo made available by the Russian Defense Ministry. (EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

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Vladimir Putin knows how to keep his enemies guessing. Will Western leaders ever catch on?

Russia is about to launch a huge military exercise within spitting distance of Europe. How many troops will be taking part exactly? What will they be doing? No one seems to know for sure — except the Russians themselves, and they’re sending conflicting signals.

The West has good reason to be concerned. This year’s version of the quadrennial Russian military exercise, known as Zapad 2021, takes place against an ominous background. In the spring, the Kremlin deployed large numbers of soldiers to areas close to Ukraine.…  Seguir leyendo »

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In recent years, Europe's migration troubles have entailed people arriving from the south and east, fleeing conflict and economic deprivation over land routes and in boats often unfit for Mediterranean waters.

But its newest "crisis" is being felt on a different front: European Union member state Lithuania, where in late July the government said more than 2,400 people had crossed illegally in the two months prior.

Their transit point, before they enter the EU: Belarus.

This latest migration spike has apparently been abetted by the regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko -- an authoritarian known as Europe's last dictator who is in the midst of a crackdown on dissidents in his own country after a disputed election last August.…  Seguir leyendo »

At a rally in Warsaw this month, a placard includes a distorted image of Belarus’s longtime dictator, Aleksandr Lukashenko. Credit Attila Husejnow/SOPA Images -- LightRocket, via Getty Images

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Just over a year ago, on Aug. 9, 2020, I stood in Belarus’s presidential election against Aleksandr Lukashenko. The dictator, who has ruled the country for 27 years with an iron fist, stole victory from us, setting off widespread protests. We united in a national pro-democracy movement to demand the release of all political prisoners, an end to state violence and a free and fair election.

The regime responded with violence. Since then, more than 35,000 people have been detained, nearly 5,000 of whom claim they were tortured. The authorities have started 4,691 politically motivated criminal cases, and according to Viasna, an independent human rights center, there are now over 600 political prisoners.…  Seguir leyendo »

Belarus president Aliaksandr Lukashenko and Russia president Vladimir Putin attend a ceremony together to unveil the Rzhev Memorial to the Soviet Soldier near the village of Khoroshevo, Russia. Photo by Mikhail Klimentyev\TASS via Getty Images.

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On 9 August, the anniversary of last year’s fraudulent presidential elections in Belarus, the UK, the US, and Canada imposed sectoral sanctions on Belarus, targeting key exports such as potash and crude oil, and the UK closed its financial markets to Belarusian debt and securities.

President Aliaksandr Lukashenka responded by saying the UK could ‘choke on your sanctions’ which may seem an empty threat viewed from the safe distance of London but, for Belarus’ closest neighbours Lithuania, Poland and Latvia, the choking could become very real.

When the European Union (EU) imposed sanctions, Lukashenka responded by flying in waves of migrants from the Middle East and delivering them to the border to cross into the EU – a tactic last seen by Russia against Nordic states in 2015.…  Seguir leyendo »

Lithuanian soldiers install razor wire on the border with Belarus in Druskininkai, Lithuania, on July 9. (Janis Laizans/Reuters)

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Since the beginning of 2021, thousands of migrants have tried to cross the border from Belarus into Lithuania, which is part of the European Union. European authorities say this isn’t an accident. They believe that Belarus is retaliating against E.U. sanctions by weaponizing migration.

Normally, roughly 70 people are apprehended annually aiming to enter Lithuania. This year, Lithuania detained more than 4,000. The E.U. has described this as “an aggressive act from the Lukashenko regime [in Belarus] designed to provoke.” Lithuanian officials are setting up razor wire along the border after declaring a state of emergency and accusing Belarus of “weaponizing” irregular migration.…  Seguir leyendo »

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After forcing down a civilian airliner from European skies in May to detain a journalist who was on board, perhaps it was only a matter of time before "Europe's last dictator", Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, would be thrust back into the international spotlight and once again face fresh condemnation for his abhorrent actions.

The regime's trademark thuggery came into focus over the weekend when Belarusian sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya defected at the Tokyo Olympics after being forcibly scheduled into a race by her country's coaches. Her public protests on social media apparently angered her team's officials and the athlete was ordered back to Minsk but refused to board the flight home, instead opting to request political asylum in a third country.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Remember the dictator who sent military fighter jets to force a commercial flight to land so he could arrest one of his critics? That dictator was Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus and one of the world's longest-ruling autocrats. Now, we learn, a month earlier he kidnapped an American citizen.

Youras Ziankovich, a lawyer with American citizenship, has been in Belarussian hands since April. He has long been a critic of the Belarussian strongman and he, too, thought he could protect himself from a repressive regime by staying beyond its borders. But Lukashenko is proving once again that tyrants don't respect national borders.…  Seguir leyendo »

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La Unión Europea nunca está tan dividida como cuando trata con líderes autoritarios de países grandes, como Xi Jinping, Vladímir Putin y Recep Tayyip Erdogan. En teoría, Alexandr Lukashenko debería constituir un problema mucho menor. Bielorrusia es un país relativamente pequeño, con menos habitantes que Bélgica. Su PIB es inferior al de Luxemburgo. De los diversos hombres fuertes de la frontera de Europa, Lukashenko probablemente sea el menos inteligente, pero eso no lo convierte en menos peligroso.

Aun así, a la Unión Europea le va a resultar extraordinariamente difícil encontrar la respuesta adecuada al intolerable acto de piratería aérea del bielorruso, a no ser que proceda con un grado de planificación estratégica que no la caracteriza.…  Seguir leyendo »

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko take a boat trip off Russia's Black Sea coast on Saturday. (Sputnik/Via Reuters)

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The United States and the European Union made a strategic mistake last summer by mishandling the unprecedented protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s autocratic regime. Now, after Lukashenko’s commission of air piracy on May 23 to kidnap an opposition critic, the West appears set on compounding its error by driving Belarus further into the welcoming arms of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Western capitals reacted with essentially unanimous condemnation when the Lukashenko government forced a Ryanair flight transiting Belarusian airspace to land and arrested passenger Roman Protasevich, an opposition journalist, and his girlfriend, Russian activist Sofia Sapega. Both kidnap victims were soon displayed in “confession” videos possibly obtained by threats or torture.…  Seguir leyendo »

Protesta contra Lukashenko en Amsterdam.OLAF KRAAK / EFE

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La sensación de seguridad es fácil de arrebatar. Es algo que sabe muy bien un autócrata como Aleksandr Lukashenko, que ha hecho de la intimidación y la represión una vía efectiva para aferrarse durante casi tres décadas al poder. El pasado domingo, al forzar con una falsa alerta de bomba el aterrizaje en Minsk de un Boeing de Ryanair que cubría la ruta Atenas-Vilna, cumplió dos objetivos: poner entre rejas al periodista de 26 años Román Protasevich (cuyo nombre habían incluido en la lista de terroristas al lado del Dáesh), junto con su compañera, la estudiante rusa Sofia Sapega, y enviar un mensaje a la disidencia y la diáspora bielorrusas propio de mafias y dictaduras: “Da lo mismo adónde vayáis, porque os atraparemos”.…  Seguir leyendo »

El secuestro de la autocomplacencia occidental

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El presidente bielorruso Aleksandr Lukashenko ha demostrado una vez más hasta dónde está dispuesto a llegar para reprimir a sus opositores. El 23 de mayo, envió un avión de combate MiG‑29 para desviar un vuelo comercial que iba de Atenas a Vilnius, poco antes de que saliera del espacio aéreo bielorruso. El objetivo era la captura de Roman Protasevich, ex jefe de redacción del cibermedio opositor bielorruso Nexta, a quien arrestaron tras el aterrizaje del avión en Minsk.

Que un régimen que ya está bajo sanciones de Estados Unidos y de la Unión Europea llegue al punto de secuestrar un avión en vuelo, con origen y destino en dos estados miembros de la UE, es fácil de explicar.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Uno de los argumentos más firmes que la Unión Europea suele dar a sus detractores es su errática y melindrosa política exterior. A pesar de que va camino de los 30 y de que cuenta con un cuerpo faraónico compuesto por comisiones y mecanismos de gestión, la PESC es, penosamente, un gundam torpón y poco eficaz. Recuerden, por citar algunos ejemplos, el chantaje constante (y oneroso) de Turquía con el flujo de refugiados, la recentísima manoletina de Marruecos tras la razia migratoria de Ceuta o los desprecios continuos del zar putinesco.

Sin embargo, acostumbrados que estábamos a los cobardones tuits coronados con el inocuo, y ya clásico, deeply concerned cuando algo pasa en el vecindario, la contundente y ágil respuesta tras el secuestro del avión de Ryanair por parte de Bielorrusia ha supuesto un inesperado alborozo para los que, a pesar de todo, nos resistimos a desenchufar el proyecto común.…  Seguir leyendo »

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The arrest of Belarusian journalist and activist Roman Protasevich on Sunday should not have come as a surprise to anyone following events in the former Soviet republic. We at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have been documenting for a year the arrests, imprisonment, beatings and other violations of reporters who were persecuted in that country simply for doing their job.

Yet even knowing what we did of the situation, the action to divert a Ryanair Athens-Vilnius flight to the Belarus capital of Minsk -- where Protasevich was detained -- is shocking.

Europe's last dictator, Aleksander Lukashenko, has long been an enemy of independent media.…  Seguir leyendo »

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On Sunday, three secret service agents and a Belarusian fighter jet “hijacked” a Ryanair plane from Athens as it crossed Belarusian airspace, just minutes before it reached Lithuania. The target was an opposition journalist, Raman Pratasevich, who helps run the Telegram channel Nexta, the main voice of the Belarusian opposition, many of whom are now in exile in Lithuania and Poland. This seems to be Belarus’s equivalent of a Litvinenko or Navalny moment – a message to the opposition that no one is safe from the regime, whether at home or abroad.

From detention in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, Pratasevich was forced to make what looks like a hostage video, “admitting” to organising mass disturbances and appearing as if he had been badly beaten.…  Seguir leyendo »