Page 5 - Aruba-today-17 Sept 2020

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WORLD NEWS Thursday 17 sepTember 2020

Belarus leader Lukashenko disparages protests as U.S. plan

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV then these measures will
and YURAS KARMANAU have to be extended to
Associated Press significantly more people,
MOSCOW (AP) — Belarus' and then we will have to
authoritarian leader on talk about Mr. Lukashenko,"
Wednesday sought to Maas told the German par-
disparage protesters de- liament on Wednesday.
manding his resignation for Western pressure has
a sixth straight week follow- pushed Lukashenko to fur-
ing a disputed election by ther cement ties with Rus-
accusing the United States sia, his main sponsor and
of fomenting the unrest. ally. The neighboring coun-
In a long speech to top of- tries have a union agree-
ficials, Belarusian President ment and maintain strong
Alexander Lukashenko political, economic and
ranted against the alleged military ties.
U.S.-led plan to destabilize Russian President Vladimir
the country and claimed Putin announced a new
that American allies in Eu- $1.5 billion loan to Belarus
rope have participated in when he hosted Lukashen-
the effort that took years ko on Monday — a finan-
to prepare, part of his at- cial lifeline condemned by
tempts to cast the opposi- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, right, and Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin, the Belarusian opposition,
tion as Western stooges. centre, attend meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, which warned Moscow
Lukashenko didn't provide Sept. 16, 2020. that it would tarnish future
evidence to back his claim Associated Press ties between the countries.
that the U.S. had any in- In a bid to rally Moscow's
volvement in the demon- enko said in Wednesday's "It's an internal political cri- tentions of demonstrators support, Lukashenko has
strations. speech before top officials. sis, and the protesters' de- and jailing of opposition cast the protests as part
His main challenger in the "It's time to stop stirring up mands contain nothing re- leaders. of a Western plot to isolate
election, Sviatlana Tsikha- society." garding relations with other Belarusian prosecutors Russia. Earlier this week,
nouskaya, dismissed his U.N. Secretary-General An- countries or a shift in Belar- have launched a probe Russian paratroopers de-
comments as an attempt tonio Guterres told report- us' foreign policy course," against the opposition ac- ployed to Belarus for the
to divert public attention ers Wednesday he hopes she said in written remarks tivists who created the Co- drills that will run through
from rigging the vote and his repeated calls will be to the AP. "Mr. Naryshkin ordination Council to push Sept. 25 near Brest, on the
the violent crackdown on heeded for an inclusive po- should better understand for a new election, jailing border with Poland.
protests. litical dialogue among Be- that instead of airing dated some of its top members At a meeting with Russian
"There is just one reason be- larusians. He said re-estab- propaganda cliches." and forcing a few others to Defense Minister Sergei
hind the protests in Belarus lishing a national consensus In Wednesday's speech, move abroad. Shoigu who visited Belarus
and it's known to everyone: "is absolutely essential for Lukashenko charged that Maria Kolesnikova, a lead- Wednesday for talks on
Lukashenko has lost the the harmonious develop- the Czech Republic, Po- ing council member who deepening military cooper-
vote, but he doesn't want ment of the country." land, Lithuania and Ukraine has been in jail for more ation, Lukashenko said he
to step down," Tsikhanous- Sergei Naryshkin, director of have helped fuel protests. than a week after she hopes to get more Russian
kaya told The Associated Russia's Foreign Intelligence All those countries have ripped her passport to weapons and suggested
Press in a written comment. Service, claimed in a state- denied similar claims by Lu- avoid the forcible expulsion planning more maneuvers
"People have denied Lu- ment carried by Russian kashenko in the past. to Ukraine, was charged in the future.
kashenko their trust and news agencies Wednes- "The Belarusian 2020 sce- Wednesday with making The German foreign minis-
support and demand that day that the U.S. has fund- nario is a combination of calls for the seizure of pow- ter noted that Russia "car-
he leave." ed the Belarusian opposi- the most effective 'color' er and forcible change of ries a very special respon-
Protesters in Belarus have tion and encouraged the destabilization technolo- the constitutional order. sibility" given its close ties
flooded the streets of the protests. gies that have been tested She could face up to five with Belarus and warned
Belarusian capital and In an apparent attempt to in various countries," he years in prison if convicted. that "with its unconditional
other cities denouncing delegitimize the Belarusian said in a reference to the Kolesnikova was suffering support for Lukashenko so
Lukashenko's landslide re- protests, Naryshkin added color-coded protests that from allergy in prison but far and hybrid exertion of
election in the Aug. 9 vote that his agency has infor- have ousted unpopular remains in good spirits, said influence, Moscow will cer-
as rigged. The huge dem- mation that "the U.S. is play- rulers in other ex-Soviet na- her lawyer Lyudmila Kazak. tainly lose the sympathy of
onstrations were driven by ing a key role in the current tions. "They obviously count "She wants to tell people people in Belarus."
frustration with the Belaru- developments in Belarus." on the scale and duration that never regretted acting Maas also sought to allay
sian strongman's 26-year He alleged that the U.S. has of protests to wear us down as she did even for a sec- the Kremlin fears of Belarus
iron-fist rule, his cavalier re- earmarked tens of millions and exhaust our resourc- ond," the lawyer said. falling into the Western or-
sponse to the coronavirus of dollars to finance Belar- es. We aren't relaxing and German Foreign Minister bit.
and the worsening econo- us' opposition groups, but stand ready to respond to Heiko Maas, whose country "For us inside the Europe-
my. provided no evidence. any challenge." holds the European Union's an Union as well, this is not
The U.S. and the European The U.S. Embassy in Minsk After a fierce crackdown rotating presidency, noted about detaching Belarus
Union have criticized the had no immediate com- on protests in the first days that and his colleagues from Russia and incorpo-
election as neither free nor ment. after the vote in which from other EU countries will rating it in the European
fair, and urged Lukashenko Tsikhanouskaya, the main nearly 7,000 were detained meet Monday to consider Union," he said. "This is sim-
to start talks with the op- opposition challenger who and hundreds were brutally how to proceed with sanc- ply about us standing up
position — a call he has re- left for Lithuania a day after beaten by police, Belaru- tions. for people in Belarus being
jected. the vote under official pres- sian authorities changed "I will say openly that if the vi- able to decide themselves
"We had the vote and got sure, rejected Naryshkin's tactics and tried to stifle olence against the peace- what road they take in a
the result, period," Lukash- statement. dissent with selective de- ful opposition doesn't stop, free and fair election."q