Andrei Sannikov: Europe Does Not Notice That Groundwork For "Russian World" Expansion Is Being Done In Belarus
- 16.05.2017, 9:34
Today, the security of Europe is directly linked to the political situation in Belarus.
The annual Lennart Meri Conference was held in Tallinn. The coordinator of the civil campaign European Belarus, presidential candidate in the 2010 elections in Belarus Andrei Sannikov took part in the conference and gave an assessment of the political situation in the country in an interview with postimees.ee.
– What is happening in Belarus now? What should we pay attention to?
– The situation is very alarming. In February of this year, protests against the tax on "social parasitism" began, but, actually, those were protests against Lukashenka's regime in general. Since that time, arrests, trials and imprisonment of activists haven't stopped.
I call the situation alarming precisely because the EU prefers not to notice what is happening in our country. There are no strong statements from Brussels, no statements about sanctions, which gives Lukashenka's regime a carte blanche to continue repressions.
– What would happen if a pro-Western government comes to power?
– If the elections were real, then we would already have a Belarusian government that would be strengthening relations with the European Union. Since I represent the civil campaign European Belarus, I can tell that we adhere to exactly this way. But since we do not have elections, and they are unlikely to happen in the near future, it is impossible to determine how strong is the mood in support of Europe.
It depends a lot on the attitude of the European Union. Europe has paid attention to military exercises "West-2017", which will be held in the fall in Belarus. But for some reason it does not pay attention to the fact that the opposition is being eliminated before these teachings.
Today, the authorities frame up the "case of patriots" against the Belarusian patriots. This means that they do the groundwork for the serious presence of the "Russian World" in Belarus, including the military one. And this threatens the security of Europe.
– Do you have any claims to the European Union?
– I wish that Europe saw the real situation and took measures to protect its values. These values are being destroyed in Belarus. It means they are destroyed in Europe as well.
– Can the protests that have started turn into the Belarusian "Maidan"?
– We have a very tough dictatorship. In 2010, there was a hard crackdown and beating of people. Now the police also disperse people and throw them in jails. Trials take place on a daily basis, citizens of Belarus are imprisoned, criminal cases against patriots are being fabricated, leaders are kidnapped, like Mikalai Statkevich, and killed in prison, like Uladzimir Niakliaeu. To ignore this is just a crime.
– Why don't Belarusians want another person to replace Lukashenka?
– Belarusians want to replace Lukashenka, we simply do not have the mechanism that exists in Europe – the institution of elections. I assure you, if fair elections were held today, Lukashenka would not be in power!