Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has to leave. French President Emmanuel Macron said this in an interview with the Journal du dimanche.
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“What is happening in Belarus is a crisis of power, an authoritarian ruler who fails to understand the logic of democracy and who goes back to violence. It is clear that Lukashenko has to leave, ”said Macron.
The French president also said he is “impressed by the courage of the protesters” in Belarus. “They know the risks they are taking by manifesting every weekend and yet they continue their movement to revive democracy in a country where it has been oppressed for so long,” said the president. According to him, especially the women who manifest every Saturday command respect.
On Saturday, according to an NGO, 90 people, mainly women, were arrested during demonstrations.
Macron also spoke of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s role in seeking a solution to the crisis in Belarus after Lukashenko’s contested re-election on August 9: “I spoke to Vladimir Putin on September 14, the day he Lukashenko received in Sochi. I told him that Russia has a role to play and that that role could be positive if he succeeds in persuading Lukashenko to respect the election results and to release political prisoners. That was eleven days ago, and we are not there yet. ”
Macron will visit Lithuania and Latvia for the first time next week. Those two Baltic states hope that Macron will put pressure to avert the Belarusian crisis. Like the European Union, the Baltic states do not recognize Lukashenko’s re-election and Lithuania has received post-election opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya after fleeing Belarus.
It cannot be ruled out that Macron will meet Tichanovskaja in Vilnius. The opposition leader said earlier this week that she hopes Macron will help to get out of the deadlock.
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