OP-ED

Oleksiy Goncharenko: Europe must not abandon the new Belarus to Putin

By Oleksiy Goncharenko.

Published Aug. 14, 2020 at 5:36 am

A member of the Belarus diaspora holds a placard depicting Alexander Lukashenko with blood on his mouth and moustache past another with a placard reading "#Free Belarus" as they with others take part in a rally in support of Belarus people protesting vote rigging in the presidential election, outside the Belarusian embassy in Kyiv, on August 13, 2020.

Photo by AFP

After years in the post-Soviet shadows, Belarus is suddenly the world’s top geopolitical story. Since August 9, dramatic scenes of regime brutality and public defiance have gripped global audiences as Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka struggles to crush an unprecedented wave of nationwide protests over his attempts to claim victory in a deeply flawed presidential election.