Belarusian opposition spokesman Andrei Sannikov, a former rival to Alexander Lukashenko in the 2010 presidential election, said on Friday that his country could lose its sovereignty as Russia increasingly interferes in Belarus.
The former diplomat, who arrived in Lithuania, has called on the West to send a “strong message” to Russia and to threaten Moscow with sanctions if it continues to intervene.
“You know the nature of the Kremlin regime, you know that the intervention has already begun by sending ‘propaganda soldiers’ working for Lukashenko on Belarusian state television.” (..) The world must send a strong message to Russia – take your hands off Belarus, otherwise you will face severe sanctions for your behavior, “he said at a press conference in Vilnius.
Sannikov competed with Alexander Lukashenko in the 2010 presidential election and was then tried for attempting to overthrow the state and spent 16 months in prison.
He now recalled that the sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) in 2010 not only on government and government officials, but also on some businessmen, were very effective in facilitating the release of the opposition, including himself. He left Belarus in 2012.
The opposition spokesman expressed hope that the EU would follow a similar path this time around and urged a strong demand for the release of political prisoners.
“I believe that, in addition to personal sanctions, economic sanctions should be imposed on those who support the regime and those who maintain it. It is not an economy, it is money that feeds punishers in Belarus who kill and distort people. That would be the most effective, ”Saņikovs emphasized.
He added that he was looking forward to the forthcoming meeting of Russian and Belarusian presidents Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow next week, where joint decisions on the United States treaty could be made.
“He has no legal right to sign anything. Yes, there is danger. But I believe that the world will notice that this is another scenario of annexation of territories, which has nothing in common with legitimate international agreements, ”said a representative of the opposition.
Sannikov, who currently lives in Warsaw, has said he plans to return to his country when it becomes free and vote, but does not intend to go there now because it would be a “one-way ticket”.
“I have plans to return to Belarus as soon as it becomes free and to take part in all the political campaigns that will take place. The skeleton of our team, which successfully ran in the 2010 elections, has been preserved. And we work with Belarus – we live in different countries, most of us in Belarus, but we work only with the aim of making our country free, ”he emphasized.
Saņikikov has admitted that he does not want to answer the question whether he trusts the member of the Presidium of the Coordination Council established by the Belarusian opposition, former Minister of Culture and former head of the National Academic Theater Janka Kupala, Pavel Latsko, who has also arrived in Vilnius.
“It is perfectly understandable that we are very different categories of people – he is a man of the system, I am, as they say now, a representative of the ‘old opposition’,” he said.
Both Saņikovs and Latuško are currently in Vilnius and have met with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičs.
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