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A30 world news
Diahuebs 24 september 2020

Belarus president sworn in at unannounced inaugural ceremony

unexpected inauguration will
only deepen the Belarus po- Rallies also took place in
litical crisis, and Latvia will Brest, Vitebsk, Grondo and
“leave open diplomatic chan- other cities.
nels for cooperation with Be- Alexander Klaskousky, an
larus at the technical level.” independent Minsk-based
analyst, said the secrecy sur-
The Kremlin refused to com- rounding the inaugural cer-
ment on the inauguration. emony illustrated the threat
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov the unrest poses to Lukash-
said he wouldn't comment enko's grip on power.
on “an absolutely sovereign, “The secret inauguration il-
internal decision of the Be- lustrates the level of trust of
larusian leadership.” the leader in the official re-
Anti-Lukashenko protests sults of the election and in the
have rocked the country daily people. Those who officially
since the election, with the got 80% of the votes don’t act
largest rallies in Minsk at- like that,” Klaskousky said.
tracting up to 200,000 peo- Lukashenko has bristled at
ple. In the first three days of suggestions of starting a dia-
protests, police used tear gas, logue with the opposition.
truncheons and rubber bul- Amid international outrage
lets to disperse crowds. Sev- over the violent crackdown
eral protesters died, many on the protests, Belarusian
were injured and more than authorities switched to pros-
7,000 were detained. The ecuting top activists. Many
(AP) — President Alexander tion only proved that Lu- Viasna human rights group members of the Coordina-
Lukashenko of Belarus was kashenko lacked a valid The United States and the said several protesters were tion Council that was formed
sworn in Wednesday to his mandate to continue leading European Union have ques- detained near the palace on by the opposition to push for
sixth term in office at an in- the country, according to his tioned the election and criti- Wednesday morning, holding a transition of power have
augural ceremony that was political opponents and Eu- cized the brutal police crack- banners that said, “The king been arrested or forced to
not announced in advance ropean officials. down on peaceful protesters has no clothes” and “Victory leave the country. A promi-
amid weeks of huge protests during the first few days of (will belong to) the people.” nent council member, Pavel
of the authoritarian leader's “Even after this ceremony to- demonstrations. The EU is Latushko, compared the in-
reelection, which the opposi- day, Mr. Lukashenko cannot pondering sanctions against In the evening, thousands of auguration to a “gathering of
tion says was rigged. claim democratic legitimi- top Belarusian officials, but people took to the streets in thieves” and refused to rec-
zation, which would be the failed to agree on impos- different parts of Minsk to ognize Lukashenko as presi-
One opposition leader called condition to recognize him ing them this week. Lithu- denounce the inauguration. dent.
the secretive ceremony “a as the legitimate president of anian Foreign Minister Linas They were met with a heavy
farce,” and several European Belarus,” said Steffen Seib- Linkevicius called the inau- response from police, who “For us, the citizens of Belar-
countries reiterated that they ert, spokesman for German guration “a farce.” blocked off some areas of us, for the international com-
don’t recognize the results Chancellor Angela Merkel. “Forged elections. Forged in- the city center and used wa- munity, he is a nobody. An
of the election and refuse to He added that the secrecy auguration. The former pres- ter cannons and truncheons unfortunate error of history
regard Lukashenko as the surrounding the swearing-in ident of Belarus does not be- to disperse them. Over 140 and a disgrace of the civilized
legitimate president. In the was “very telling.” Lukashen- come less former. Quite the people were detained, ac- world," Latushko said on the
evening, thousands of people ko has run Belarus, a former contrary. His illegitimacy is a cording to the Viasna group, messaging app Telegram. "We
took to the streets in the capi- Soviet nation of 9.5 million, fact with all the consequences and dozens were injured in will never agree with the fal-
tal of Minsk to protest the with an iron fist for 26 years. that this entails,” Linkevicius the clashes. sification (of the election)
inauguration and were met Official results of the coun- tweeted. Other European of- Protests continued into late and are demanding a new
with a strong response from try's Aug. 9 presidential elec- ficials echoed the sentiment. evening despite the crack- vote. We urge everyone to
police. tion had him winning 80% of In neighboring Poland, down, with groups of dem- engage in indefinite civil dis-
The ceremony was held in the vote. His strongest oppo- Prime Minister Mateusz onstrators blocking roads in obedience!”
front of several hundred dig- nent, Sviatlana Tsikhanous- Morawiecki called for an various parts of the capital.
nitaries at the ornate Palace kaya, got 10%. “honest election,” saying on
of Independence in Minsk, Facebook that the secretive
the state news agency Belta Tsikhanouskaya, who is in nature of the swearing in
said. Police and other security exile in neighboring Lithua- ”only confirms that Lukash-
forces blocked off parts of the nia after being forced to leave enko is aware of what he has
city and public transportation Belarus, says the outcome done, rigging the results of
was suspended. was invalid, as have the tens the election."
of thousands of her support-
Lukashenko, 66, took the ers who continue to demand "He is aware that he has no
oath of office in Belarusian Lukashenko's resignation backing from his own nation
with his right hand on the during more than six weeks and that the aggression that
constitution, and the head of of mass protests. he is allowing himself against
the Central Election Com- “The people haven’t handed the people of Belarus is inad-
mission handed him the of- him a new mandate,” she missible,” Morawiecki said.
ficial ID card of the president said, calling the inauguration Czech Foreign Minister To-
of Belarus. “The day of as- was “a farce” and an attempt mas Petricek tweeted that
suming the post of the presi- by Lukashenko to “proclaim “the elections in Belarus were
dent is the day of our victory, himself legitimate.” neither free nor fair. The re-
convincing and fateful,” he “I, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, sult is therefore illegitimate,
said. “We were not just elect- am the only leader that has which is why today’s inau-
ing the president of the coun- been elected by the Belaru- guration of Alexander Lu-
try — we were defending our sian people. And our goal kashenko is also illegitimate.”
values, our peaceful life, sov- right now is to build the new Latvian Foreign Ministry
ereignty and independence.” Belarus together,” she said in press secretary Janis Bekeris
The absence of public in- a video from Lithuania's capi- told the Baltic News Service
volvement in the inaugura- tal, Vilnius. agency that they believe the