Belarusian President Lukashenko can count on the support of Russia. During talks in the Russian resort of Sochi, President Putin pledged a loan of $ 1.5 billion to his Belarusian colleague. He also said that he supported Lukashenko’s planned reforms at this “difficult time”.
Lukashenko is under pressure after last month’s presidential election, which he is said to have won with 80 percent of the vote. Both the opposition and the European Union are convinced that fraud has taken place. Since election day, things have been troubled in Belarus, with massive demonstrations in Minsk and other cities.
Putin said at the meeting that the current crisis must be resolved by the Belarusian people, without interference from abroad. He assured that Russia remains the largest investor in the country. In addition, the countries will continue to cooperate on defense. For example, they hold joint military exercises near Brest, on the border with Poland.
Chilled relationship
Lukashenko is heavily dependent on its large neighbor. The country imports oil and gas from Russia at cheap rates and has billions in loans outstanding to Moscow. Despite this, Minsk has always managed to keep far-reaching integration of the two countries at bay, against Putin’s wishes.
Just before the presidential election, the relationship between the two allies seemed to cool. For example, Lukashenko reacted displeased when 33 Russians in his country at the end of July were arrested. They would belong to a private Russian company that would aim to destabilize the country. Also he accused Russia of a plot to overthrow him. For example, the arrested opposition leader Babariko would work for Russia. Babariko’s campaign manager Maria Kolesnikova later became the face of the opposition.
Shortly after Lukashenko’s disputed election victory it appeared the sky cleared between neighboring countries. Putin immediately acknowledged the election results, saying that “all problems will be resolved quickly”. Lukashenko called the protests in his country in that conversation a threat to the entire region. Later Moscow supported Minsk through Russian journalists to fly in and a reserve police force to keep on hand.
The Belarusian president today thanked his Russian colleague for his support and reiterated his commitment to constitutional reform. The opposition has no confidence in this and sees the promise as an insincere attempt to stop the protests.
EU sanctions are delayed
Meanwhile, the EU member states have not yet agreed on new sanctions against Belarus. This is because Cyprus, among others, which has good relations with Russia, only wants to agree to sanctions against Belarus if steps are also taken against Turkey. That is looking for raw materials in the vicinity of Cyprus.
According to Foreign Minister Blok, a decision must be taken next week. He says indecisiveness is not good for the image of the EU as a major foreign player. “I’m impatient.”
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