In power for 26 years, Alexander Lukashenko, 65, promised that he would “solve the problem” of the demonstrations that, according to him, are instigated from abroad, and put the army on alert, accusing the OTAN to maneuver before its borders, something that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization denied.
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Thousands of people, including workers from the important MTZ tractor factory, were heading towards the center of the capital, Minsk, with white and red flags, the colors of the opposition, according to journalists from the AFP agency.
In the city center, thousands more were shouting “Freedom” and “Lukashenko to the police van“In the surroundings, numerous anti-riot forces were deployed, with water cannons.
Shortly before the start of the opposition march, the Interior Ministry launched a threat against the “illegitimate” concentrations and asked the citizens to act “sensibly.”
While the Defense Ministry warned that, in case of incidents near the WWII memorials, where the protests took place in these last two weeks, Those responsible will have to deal “not with the police, but with the army.”
The opposition hopes to repeat what happened on August 16, when it organized in the streets of Minsk the largest demonstration in the history of Belarus, with 100,000 participants, to denounce the fraudulent re-election to the presidency of Alexander Lukashenko, a week earlier.
Although it has the support of the army, police and secret services, some of Lukashenko’s allies in the state media and public enterprises have abandoned him.
This Sunday, his supporters also plan to hold demonstrations of support.
On Saturday, the president visited the military units deployed in Grodno, near the Polish border, where he denounced the protest movement, instigated “from abroad,” and ordered “stricter measures to defend the territorial integrity of Belarus.”
The Belarusian authorities opened an investigation against the “coordination council” formed by the opposition for “attacking national security”. This body was created this week in order to promote a political transition after new elections.
At the international level, Russia expressed support for Alexander Lukashenko despite tense relations between Moscow and Minsk in recent months, and warned against any form of Western interference.
The European Union (EU), which provides sanctions against the power in Belarus, compared this Sunday the Belarusian leader with the Venezuelan Nicolas Maduro.
“From this point of view, Maduro and Lukashenko are in exactly the same situation. We do not recognize that they have been legitimately elected. However, whether we like it or not, they control the government and we have to continue dealing with them,” said the head of diplomacy. European, Josep Borrell.
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