Belarus Elections - March 2006

Lukashenko Wins Landslide; Protest Ensues

Jewish news coverage
JTA:	Mar. 21	Jews walk tightrope as Lukashenko sweeps to victory
JTA:	Mar. 15	Jewish leaders quiet as Lukashenko set to win again
Other news coverage
RFE/RL	ongoing	Full Coverage
U.S. House	Apr. 25	Rep. Shimkus On Election, Lukashenko
NY Times	Apr. 11	Lukashenka Inaugurated, Barred From EU Travel
Moscow Times	Mar. 31	Who Should Travel, Who Should Not
NY Times	Mar. 31	Russia Raises Price of Gas for an Ally, Belarus
NY Times	Mar. 30	Belarus to charge defeated candidate
AFP	Mar. 28	Russia: opposition deliberately provoked violent reaction
UPI	Mar. 21	Russia: Election Was Fair and Open
RFE/RL	Mar. 21	Protests Appear To Lose Momentum Amid Arrests, Trials
Washington Post	Mar. 21	Editorial: The Struggle for Belarus
Reuters	Mar. 20	US rejects election results
RIA Novosti	Mar. 20	Lukashenko slams "unprecedented foreign pressure"
AFP	Mar. 20	Leader clinches new term, West and opposition cry foul
NY Times	Feb. 26	Milinkevich Contests Belarus' Presidential Election

 

---

Jewish Telegraphic Agency - 03.21.2006

Jews in Belarus walk tightrope as Lukashenko sweeps to victory

By Lev Krichevsky

MINSK, Belarus (JTA) -- Boris voted for the opposition candidate in this week's election in Belarus -- even though he knew Alexander Milinkevich wasn't going to win. 

"I only want to be given a chance to vote freely and choose freely who I want," said Boris, a 36-year-old Jewish businessman who asked that his last name not be used. 

In contrast, an elderly Jewish woman named Mila is a major supporter of Alexander Lukashenko, who has been the authoritarian president in this former Soviet republic for the past 12 years. Lukashenko won his third term in office Sunday amid widespread international condemnation of the vote. 

"I wish him long, long years and want him to remain our president forever," Mila said while attending a service last Friday night in Minsk's Simcha Reform congregation. 

The opposition, she said, "wants to sell us out to America." 

Boris, for his part, joined some 5,000 people at an opposition rally in a Minsk square Sunday night to show disagreement with the official vote count and their solidarity with Milinkevich. 

According to official results, Lukashenko received nearly 83 percent of the vote while Milinkevich got about 6 percent. Voter turnout was a record 93 percent. 

Lukashenko, a former Soviet collective farm boss, has maintained a strict, state-controlled economy, and has capitalized on low unemployment and stable, if meager, living standards. 

He may be considered a dictator by the Western world, but for many of his own people -- especially for pensioners, rural citizens and workers at state-owned plants -- he is a great politician who has ensured his nation a stable and crisis-free development after the turmoil of the initial post-Communist years. 

A country of 10 million people, Belarus is home to anywhere from 20,000-70,000 Jews. 

While Boris was staunch in his support for Milinkevich, much of the country's official Jewish community took a different approach. Despite Lukashenko's authoritarian rule, the Jewish community has managed to retain a certain level of independence while avoiding political involvement. 

"We don't mix our community in politics," said Leonid Levin, a renowned architect and president of the Union of Belarusian Jewish Public Organizations and Communities, an umbrella group. 

Jewish leaders cite both fear of repression and the solid support Lukashenko enjoys among older Jews as reasons for avoiding political activity. Yet community leaders have felt safe enough to criticize authorities for what they believe is a weak response toward anti-Semitic incidents, particularly vandalism, and toward hate-filled books and newspapers. 

"Lukashenko is not an anti-Semite himself," said Yakov Basin, a longtime Jewish leader and civil rights activist in Minsk. "But there are some people around him who are." 

Eduard Skobelev, a member of the presidential entourage and editor of the official Presidential Bulletin, is a prolific anti-Semitic writer, and authorities ignore community complaints against his writings. 

Showing up for the opposition rally was a courageous step for many Belarusians: In recent years, dozens of opposition leaders disappeared without a trace and many more were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. 

Two days before the vote, Lukashenko threatened to "wring the necks" of opponents preparing to take to the streets, and the KGB -- which has retained its Soviet-era name -- said police would arrest protesters as terrorists. 

"In school, we were told that anyone who goes to the rally and gets detained will be expelled from school," said Veronika, a Jewish high school student in Minsk. 

On Sunday night, dozens of trucks with police and special forces filled the streets of central Minsk but no force was used, and the protest ended peacefully. 

Milinkevich, who campaigned on a pro-democracy ticket, said the rally was people's "victory over fear." 

The opposition called on people to show up in the same square Monday night, but fewer were expected to attend. 

Observers from Western countries said the elections did not meet democratic standards, citing repression of the opposition and the fact that Lukashenko's rivals had virtually no access to state-controlled airwaves. 

"Independent newspapers are being closed and television offers no alternative point of view," Basin said. 

In the months before the elections, state television was fanning hysteria over "some worldwide anti-Belarusian conspiracy," Basin said. 

That conspiracy allegedly included not only Western countries but Ukraine and Georgia, two former Soviet republics where popular protests over rigged elections have brought down governments in the past two years. 

Before the vote, Belarus imposed strict control over everything coming from Ukraine and Georgia, apparently out of fear of the "export of revolution." 

Jewish officials in Belarus experienced the fear firsthand: Nearly five tons of matzah has remained at a customs terminal in Minsk since early March, and the community has been unable to get the shipment. 

The matzah was baked in Kiev, and Jewish officials were told they could get the shipment only after the elections because customs suspected that any shipment from Ukraine could contain opposition propaganda material. 

Yet observers believe Lukashenko's fear of a repeat of the 2004 democratic upheaval in Ukraine is misguided. 

Until the fall of communism, "Belarus never had a state of its own, and ethnic identity here has always been weak," Basin said. 

In addition, years of repression weakened the opposition and spread political apathy. 

"Even those who disagree with the official line do not believe they can change anything," Basin said. 

Echoing that apathy was a group of Jewish students who gathered at the Minsk Jewish Campus last Friday night to celebrate Shabbat with the local Hillel. 

"Everything has been decided and counted," one of the students said of the upcoming vote. 

None of the students planned to attend the post-election protests. 

"We want to live peacefully," one said. 

Despite the regime's oppressive character, Jews as individuals are relatively safe in what the West has labeled "Europe's last dictatorship." 

"There is no discrimination against Jews" on the government level, Basin said. 

But some wonder if Lukashenko may order a crackdown now that he has received a third five-year term in office. 

"The main question is whether there will be mass repression after the election, whether the screws will be tightened even more," Basin said. 


return to top

---

Jewish Telegraphic Agency - 03.15.2006

Jewish leaders in Belarus quiet as Lukashenko set to win again

By Lev Krichevsky

MOSCOW (JTA) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a former Soviet collective farm manager, has been tightening the screws on dissent before a presidential vote in his country next week. 

Lukashenko's regime, routinely referred to in the West as Europe's last dictatorship, is facing two opposition candidates as he campaigns for his third term in office. 

Support for the opposition among Belarusian Jews is especially strong among younger and more educated voters, as well as in the capital of Minsk, home to many of the country's estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Jews. 

Jewish leaders in the past have shown a certain degree of independence from the authorities and have at times criticized the official line on issues of concern for the community. 

But the leaders of the community are refraining from making any predictions regarding Sunday's vote -- apparently fearing a possible backlash. 

The authorities are afraid of a repeat of what happened in Ukraine and Georgia, where regime changes occurred as a result of pro-democracy protests that took place after rigged elections. 

As a result, opposition activists are being detained in Belarus and even one of the two opposition candidates was briefly arrested for holding a rally that had not been sanctioned. 

New amendments introduced to the criminal code will allow the regime to further clamp down on political dissent, civil rights groups fear. 

The opposition candidates have been all but barred from media and their rallies have been broken up by force. More recently, opposition activists in many areas of Belarus had to resort to home visits as the only way to distribute campaign materials and talk to voters. 

The main opposition candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, a 58-year-old professor of physics, believes that he and Lukashenko both share one-quarter of popular support each, with about one-half of the electorate still undecided or afraid of showing their support to the opposition. 

But most observers believe Lukashenko will not allow himself to lose the vote. 

Lukashenko is backed by the Kremlin in Moscow, but even Russian experts helping Lukashenko in his campaign usually refrain from calling the election process in Belarus democratic. 

Lukashenko, still popular with many Belarusians, has maintained a strict, state-controlled economy, and has capitalized on low unemployment and stable, if meager, living standards. 

But at least a few Belarusians apparently have other ideas. Last week, the chief of Belarus's KGB security service accused an allegedly foreign-funded opposition group of planning to stage an election-day coup after publishing false voting results. 

Opposition leaders deny the allegations, and Milinkevich has called for peaceful protests if vote-rigging occurs. 


return to top

---

New York Times - 04.11.2006

Europe Bars Its Doors to Belarus President and 30 Officials

By C. J. CHIVERS

MOSCOW — The European Union on Monday imposed travel restrictions on President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus and 30 more of the country's officials, blocking their entrance to much of Europe as punishment for election tampering and violent crackdowns on dissent in the former Soviet state.

The restrictions, widely expected after a rigged presidential election and police violence against antigovernment demonstrators in Belarus last month, are effective immediately. 

The European Union's statement cited not only the recent events in Belarus, including the election on March 19 and beatings and detentions of opposition members and foreigners, but also the disappearances in 1999 and 2000 of four opposition figures, whom the state is suspected of having killed.

The Europeans also reiterated their support for Belarus's nascent opposition, some members of which have received financing from European governments and the United States. They vowed to expand contacts and to support an independent news media.

"Opposition candidates and their supporters have offered the Belarussian population a democratic alternative," the European Union's statement said. The European community, it added, will "intensify and facilitate people-to-people contacts and enhance access to independent sources of information."

Under Mr. Lukashenko, often referred to as Europe's last dictator, Belarus has virtually no independent news media. Its three state-controlled television stations endlessly flatter the president and criticize his perceived foes.

Mr. Lukashenko, who was sworn in for a third term as president on Saturday, has shown little public concern about the prospect of sanctions.

Immediately after the travel ban was imposed on Monday, his government labeled the action "short sighted" and said sanctions would only aggravate relations between Belarus and the West.

Mr. Lukashenko appeared at his inauguration ceremony wearing a military uniform, and bluntly scolded the West for what he described as its efforts to encourage revolutions patterned after those that have changed post-Soviet governments in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan since 2003.

"Get busy with restoring order in your own countries," he said, in remarks aimed at the West, according to a transcript prepared by the BBC. "Belarus has a robust immune system. Your clumsy attempts to plant the virus of revolution have produced the reverse effect and have become an antidote for this color disease," a reference to the democracy movement in Ukraine, which used the color orange as its badge of unity. 

The list of officials banned from travel to Europe include senior members of the presidential administration, as well as the two top officials of the K.G.B., the state security agency, which retains its Soviet name. The list also includes election supervisors, judges and a prosecutor involved in processing cases against opposition members.

It substantially reflected a proposed list of 47 officials created and circulated by Western diplomats last month in Minsk, except that it did not include state journalists the previous list recommended for sanctions. 

Their omission reflects a divergence in opinion among diplomats about how to classify the state journalists, who are regarded by some Western countries, including the United States, as K.G.B. agents. But some diplomats worry that sanctions against the state journalists could lead to retaliatory restrictions against Western newsgathering.

No matter Mr. Lukashenko's public displays of confidence, the European Union's decision puts him in rare company. 

Other public officials barred from entering the union include security officers responsible for the bloody crackdown in 2005 in Andijon, Uzbekistan, and those indicted for war crimes and their close circles. The only other heads of state banned from the European nations are President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and the leaders of the military junta now controlling Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

"You can see the company in which these guys are," Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said in a telephone interview. She said the list would continue to be reviewed and might grow. 

The response from the government of Belarus came in the form of a statement by Andrei Popov, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry. "We have repeatedly stated to our European partners that restrictive policy toward Belarus is groundless, far-fetched and useless," he said. "Real understanding and constructive cooperation are obviously reached through dialogue, but not imposed with sanctions."

Nikolai I. Lozovik, the deputy chairman of the Central Election Commission and one of the Belarussian officials whose travel was restricted, said he was proud to be included. 

He said the sanctions were a case of European political pressure and double standards.

"Good is called bad, and bad is called good," he said. "I would be offended if in this situation I was considered a person who was corresponding with European standards."

return to top

---

Moscow Times - 03.31.2006

Who Should Travel, Who Should Not


By Malcolm Hawkes 

Malcolm Hawkes is a former researcher on Belarus for New York-based Human Rights Watch and currently works as an independent legal consultant. The views expressed are his own.

The aftermath of the rigged presidential election and brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Belarus has elicited a predictable response in the West. The European Union and the United States have reimposed a travel ban on top Belarussian officials, while economic sanctions are also likely to be imposed. We've been here before. In 2004, Brussels and Washington imposed a travel ban on high-ranking Belarussian officials in response to Belarus' poor human rights record, flawed elections and referendums. These moves did not bring about the desired response -- respect for democracy and human rights -- and the new travel bans and mooted economic sanctions are unlikely to succeed either. It's time for a new and radical tactic: to relax entry requirements to the EU and increase study and work opportunities for ordinary Belarussians.

Economic sanctions do not work at changing governments, but they are good at hitting ordinary people, vividly demonstrated by the humanitarian crisis in Iraq brought on by Saddam Hussein's indifference to his people's suffering. Sanctions have also failed to remove Fidel Castro in Cuba and helped to spawn a thriving black market in the Balkans that served only to foster instability and benefit dubious power groupings.

As Russia has made plain through its open support of President Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus is to remain within its sphere of influence. Any attempt to impose economic hardship on Belarus by the West is certain to be amply compensated for by Moscow, which already heavily subsidizes gas supplies to that country. Therefore, economic sanctions against Belarus would only preserve the political status quo, even strengthen it, ensuring that Belarus was as dependent economically on Russia as the Lukashenko regime is dependent on it for political support.

Moreover, the ensuing economic and political stagnation would sound the death knell for the long-embattled independent media. Already last week, Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta, a respected business newspaper, became the latest independent paper to announce it is ceasing publication due to state interference with printing and distribution. Any worsening of the economic environment in Belarus would ensure that the state's information blockade, along with government propaganda, would continue unchallenged. 

Why did the pro-democracy "revolution" in Belarus fail? Is it that the movement for democracy is weaker in Belarus than in Ukraine or Georgia? Or is it simply because, after years of increasingly authoritarian rule, the "disappearance" of leading opposition figures, ready use of police violence at demonstrations, a loyal security service and absent any internal financial heavyweights among the opposition, any pro-democracy movement in Belarus is doomed to struggle? The answer is probably all of the above. Yet the past week has seen the opposition hold some of the boldest and largest demonstrations in years, which suggests that something is stirring. This should be nurtured.

A travel ban on top officials will have little impact when most ordinary Belarussians are unable to travel abroad themselves for want of visas or the means to pay for the trip. Before Poland acceded to the EU, shuttle traders from Belarus regularly, and one suspects profitably, plied their trade across the border. The EU's tough border controls put a stop to that.

Relaxed entry requirements coupled with enhanced work and study opportunities would help to expose Belarussians to functioning market economies and democracies. Income from EU-based jobs would be sent back to Belarussian families. The information blockade would crumble. The desire and means of ordinary Belarussians to change Belarus for the better would grow. At a stroke, the West would demonstrate the ready benefits to the Belarussian people of open democratic governance and vibrant market economies. With a population of just 10 million, the impact of Belarus on the EU labor markets would scarcely be felt. EU monitoring of border movements, for example to prevent smuggling and human trafficking, could continue and should be unaffected by easier travel from Belarus. And what better demonstration of the worth of a travel ban when ordinary Belarussians are able freely to travel to the EU and the Lukashenko elite, for all their domestic power, are not?

Of course, Belarus may in response restrict the right of its people to travel abroad. It often has imposed such temporary restrictions to prevent key opposition figures from attending meetings or conferences. However, such restrictions would have to apply to all Belarussians and encompass not just the land borders shared with Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine, but Russia as well, with whom Belarus currently maintains an open border policy.

Opening up travel and work opportunities to the European Union from Belarus while maintaining a ban on the president and the governing elite would send a very strong message. Although any "revolution" thus prompted would not happen overnight, opening Europe's door could ultimately provide the opposition with the momentum sadly lacking in recent days, a momentum that could become unstoppable.

return to top

---

New York Times - 03.31.2006

Russia Raises Price of Gas for an Ally, Belarus

By C. J. CHIVERS

MOSCOW — Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly announced Thursday that it would require Belarus, an ally whose economy is subsidized by Russia, to begin paying market prices for natural gas.

The announcement, in a period of political turmoil in Belarus after a tainted presidential election on March 19, was seen by political analysts as a move by the monopoly, Gazprom, to gain control of Belarus's gas transportation system, which carries a large share of the gas that Russia exports to Europe.

It reflected the broader trend of Gazprom's consolidation of Russia's gas markets and its efforts to increase revenues. But by driving up its neighbor's fuel cost, it may put new pressures on President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, often called Europe's last dictator.

Gazprom has been raising rates for former Soviet states that it long subsidized, including Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, where the step was seen, at least in part, as revenge for turning away from Russia politically. Until Thursday, Belarus did not face such pressure; it has been allowed to buy Russian gas at $47 per thousand cubic meters, a sharp contrast to European prices of more than $230.

In a statement, Gazprom said that the European prices would be effective for Belarus next year and that Belarus should submit any proposal for an adjustment by April 30. 

Sergei V. Kupriyanov, a Gazprom spokesman, suggested in televised remarks that the company was acting prudently by seeking the terms of the adjustment now, long before the current contract expires in December. 

A similar contract with Ukraine expired late last year, and Gazprom's demand for a steep price increase led to a midwinter standoff with that country's government. Gazprom briefly cut off the flow to Ukraine, thus also reducing the supply to Europe and drawing criticism from Western governments. Eventually the two sides compromised on prices and other terms.

"So that the issue of the gas prices for Belarus would not become the topic of the New Year's Eve TV programs, we proposed now, in advance, to agree on how we will work in the next year," Mr. Kupriyanov said in an appearance on the ORT television station. "The position of Gazprom is that the supplies of Russian gas should be carried out at prices corresponding to the European level."

The price demand to Belarus underscored the shifting circumstances faced by Mr. Lukashenko, whose recent re-election was denounced as a fraud by the West. 

Since the end of the election campaign, he has faced the most energetic protests in his 12 years of authoritarian rule. The Belarussian authorities have been engaged in a broad crackdown, arresting hundreds of peaceful protesters and one of the defeated presidential candidates, who remains in jail.

The new open opposition has suggested that Mr. Lukashenko's hold on power may be weakening. There has also been widespread curiosity about his whereabouts and health. Mr. Lukashenko, who is typically robust and omnipresent on the state-controlled news, has appeared only once since March 20. Russian and European newspapers, as well as blogs and Web sites, have suggested that something is awry.

Pavel N. Lyogky, Mr. Lukashenko's spokesman, said Wednesday in a telephone interview that questions about the president's health "do not deserve any attention," and added, "He is more than healthy."


return to top

---

New York Times - 03.30.2006

Belarus to charge defeated candidate

By C. J. CHIVERS

MOSCOW — Prosecutors in Belarus on Wednesday said they would bring criminal charges against a defeated presidential candidate who led an anti-government march last week and that they were considering lesser charges against a second candidate who had organized a rally.

The announcement, during which prosecutors also said the police had arrested more than 500 demonstrators last week, continued the crackdown on the opposition to President Aleksandr Lukashenko.

It was also an unmistakable snub to the West.

The United Sates and the European Union have demanded the release of the candidate, Aleksandr Kazulin, and of demonstrators arrested last week during peaceful protests against Lukashenko's re-election, which the opposition says was a fraud.

Kazulin, who was beaten by the police and arrested on March 25 as he led a march toward a detention center where opposition members are held, faces charges of organizing group actions and hooliganism, Belarus's federal prosecutor said, according to the news agency BelaPAN. The first charge could carry a prison term of up to six years.

Kazulin received 2.2 percent of the officially tabulated vote on March 19.

In an interview with The New York Times before his arrest, he asserted that an honest count would show that he had received roughly a third of votes cast. He led the march the next day, which was attacked by members of an elite riot police unit, SOBR, which has been widely accused of human rights abuses.

Kazulin's wife, Irina, said the charges were retaliation for daring to challenge Lukashenko's authoritarian rule.

"It is personal revenge," she said by telephone. "It is purely a political case."

She also said that her husband had been kicked and beaten and that he had a back injury that had not been examined by a doctor. The prosecutor said Aleksandr Kazulin had not filed a complaint. Neither claim could be independently verified.

Prosecutors also said they were considering charges against Aleksandr Milinkevich, who received 6.1 percent in the official vote count and who has called for peaceful acts of public assembly. The potential charge, disturbing public order, could carry a sentence of 15 days.

Milinkevich, in a telephone interview as he prepared for meetings in Poland, said that he expected to be jailed and that the announcement Wednesday was part of the mounting pressure against him.

"At first it is usually a PR action," he said. "It is only beginning."

Milinkevich added that the government's pressure was counterproductive.

"I think they would very much like me to emigrate, fearing imprisonment, but I am not going to do that," he said. "The more repression they bring against the protesters and the organizers of protests, the more protests they will have. They are losing their supporters."

The United States warned prosecutors in Belarus not to proceed with charges. David Kramer, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said officials involved in these cases risk personal sanctions in the West.

"We urge the prosecutor general and those who work for him to be very careful in pursuing prosecution against those who are simply expressing their political views," Kramer said by telephone. "The United States and the European Union are paying very close attention, and taking names."

The European Union is expected to discuss sanctions against Belarussian officials when foreign ministers of its 25 members meet April 10. The United States, which has its own process for applying sanctions, including bans on travel and freezing on assets, has been adding names of Belarussian officials on an almost daily basis since last week, Kramer said.

Belarussian officials have scoffed at threats of sanctions. The prosecutor general, Pyotr Miklashevich, showed no signs of relenting at his appearance on Tuesday.

"All the organizers of the unsanctioned actions, their active participants, violators of public order, will be brought to administrative or criminal responsibility in accordance with the law," he said.


return to top

---

Agence France-Presse - 03.28.2006

Belarus opposition deliberately provoked violent reaction: Russia

MOSCOW (AFP) -- Russia's foreign ministry criticised opposition forces in Belarus on Tuesday for deliberately provoking a violent reaction in a recent protest against President Alexander Lukashenko so as to spark condemnation from the West.

"It's clear that the opposition provoked the government to take violent action and thereby created a wave of criticism in the West against the government in Minsk," Russia's foreign ministry said in a written statement.

The statement took issue with two opposition leaders, Alexander Kozulin and Alexander Milinkevich, over an unauthorised protest in the Belarussian capital on Saturday against Lukashenko's re-election victory to a third term in power earlier this month.

The rally in central Minsk called by Milinkevich, who came a distant second to Lukashenko with 6.1 percent of the vote according to official results, passed off peacefully.

But a later protest march to a Minsk detention centre led by Kozulin, who garnered 2.2 percent, was broken up by riot police.

The European Union and the United States, which criticised the presidential election and have approved sanctions against Lukashenko, condemned the violence and called for the release of Kozulin, who remains in detention.

Milinkevich immediately distanced himself from Kozulin's actions on Saturday, calling them a "provocation" but Russia's foreign ministry included him in its criticism, saying "in any case what happened in the Belarussian capital should receive an objective legal appraisal."

Russia said it saw the March 25 violence as "a failed attempt to repeat the opposition's tactic during presidential elections in certain other countries" -- an apparent reference to pro-Western Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's victory in what become known as the "orange revolution."

"Again, instead of a civilised acknowledgment of the opponent's victory, a gamble was made on the artificial pour of emotions on the street, an attempt to have your way, not by popular choice, not at the ballot box but beyond the legal framework."

European countries should not criticise Belarus for seeking to defend the country's constitutional order and "issue angry and far from always justified criticism of the actions of the authorities in Belarus."

Russian President Vladimir Putin rushed to congratulate Lukashenko last week and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused election observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for fanning the protest movement.

OSCE observers said the vote was "severely flawed," while monitors from the Moscow-led Commonwealth of Independent States, a grouping of former Soviet republics except the Baltic states, said the vote was free and fair.


return to top

---

United Press International - 03.21.2006

Russia: Belarus election was fair and open

MOSCOW (UPI) -- Observers from Russia and the CIS countries have declared that the Belarusian presidential election was fair and that the results must be respected.

Contradicting the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which called the vote 'severely flawed,' the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday that the election complied with universally recognized standards, Interfax reported.

'The elections reflected high civic awareness and people`s wish for stability and more socially oriented policies. Belarusians clearly expressed their will, and it must be respected,' the ministry said in a statement. 

Vladimir Rushailo, chief of the Commonwealth of Independent States observer mission, said Monday in Minsk: 'The election complied with Belarusian election legislation, and voter turnout was high. CIS observers see the Belarusian presidential election as open and transparent.'


return to top

---

Washington Post - 03.21.2006

The Struggle for Belarus

Editorial

PRESIDENT BUSH'S new national security strategy makes the point that "though tyranny has few advocates, it needs more adversaries." The good news about Belarus's farcical presidential election Sunday is that dictator Alexander Lukashenko has acquired a few. To the long-standing enmity of the Bush administration can be added that of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, whose monitoring mission quickly judged the election as unfair and condemned the "arbitrary use of state power"; the Council of Europe, which called the ballot "a farce"; and the European Union, which said that new sanctions against Mr. Lukashenko and his regime were "very likely."

Most encouraging of all was the appearance in downtown Minsk on Sunday and again last night of thousands of opposition protesters, in spite of snow and a hail of threats by Mr. Lukashenko to break up demonstrations by force. The largest opposition gatherings in his 12 years of rule showed that there is a foundation for a Belarusan freedom movement, like those that eventually triumphed in neighboring Poland and Ukraine.

After years of tolerating a dictatorship on their borders, European countries finally are taking measures against Belarus. Visa sanctions have been applied against some officials of the regime; those now need to be extended to Mr. Lukashenko himself, and complemented with a freeze on bank accounts and other assets. The European Union has begun broadcasting objective news into the country, which could help to counter pervasive censorship. Neighbors such as Lithuania and Slovakia have been working with the opposition, which needs funding for communications and organizing.

All of this might have a decisive impact if not for the countervailing influence of Russia, which still prefers dictatorships in Europe. The new chairman of the Group of Eight -- that would be Russian President Vladimir Putin -- publicly congratulated Mr. Lukashenko yesterday, saying the election "highlighted voters' trust in your course." What of the massive manipulation witnessed by the international election observers? The Kremlin approves of it.

In fact, the G-8 chairman, who has been promoting "energy security" as a topic for discussion during the summit he will proudly host in St. Petersburg, is so pleased with Mr. Lukashenko's government that he is supplying it with gas at one-fifth the price he recently proposed to charge democratic Ukraine. That subsidy, and Russian purchases of the substandard goods of Belarusan state factories, prop up an economy barely changed from the Soviet model. The unambiguous policy of the G-8 chairman is to preserve Russia's domination of its neighbor by backing a dictator who falsifies elections, has murdered leading opponents and enriches himself through arms sales to such countries as Iran and Sudan.

That presumably won't stop President Bush and the six other leaders of Western democracies from toasting their G-8 chairman in St. Petersburg this summer. Too bad the national security strategy seems not to extend that far; Mr. Putin's emerging autocracy also deserves some adversaries. 

return to top

---

RIA Novosti - 03.20.2006

Lukashenko slams "unprecedented foreign pressure" on elections

MINSK (RIAN) -- Newly re-elected Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Monday that presidential elections in the country had come under unprecedented pressure from outside the country.

"The presidential elections are over but they were held in conditions of unprecedented foreign pressure and aggressive behavior by the opposition," said Lukashenko, who was elected for a third term Sunday with 82.6% of the vote.

He said the pressure helped his campaign, adding that Belarusian people had not given in to pressure from outside.

"The majority voted for the incumbent president but, what is more important, they backed the line for the building of a strong and prosperous state," Lukashenko said.

He called on for peace between the country's political groups, urging them not to use the elections as a "factor of discord."

Lukashenko said Belarus should not be criticized for organizing early voting, which is used in most countries, including the "super-democratic" United States and Britain, where people can vote by mail.

"If postal voting was organized in Belarus, we would have been wiped off the map," said Lukashenko, whom Washington has dubbed "Europe's last dictator."

He said Belarus was not afraid of international isolation, but said he hoped the isolation would not continue.

"We have lived in isolation for a long time," he said.

Lukashenko also said he had voted for parliamentarian and Belarusian Liberal-Democratic Party leader Sergei Gaidukevich.

"I am not in the habit of voting for myself," he said, adding that he had voted for Gaidukevich because he is a member of parliament.

Lukashenko said he could not bring himself to vote for opposition candidates Alexander Milinkevich and Alexander Kozulin, and said one of them was a "traitor".


return to top

---

Agence France-Presse - 03.20.2006

Belarus leader clinches new term, West and opposition cry foul

(AFP) -- Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko clinched a third term in office but opponents blasted the vote as an "unconstitutional seizure of power" and the European Union said stronger sanctions against the Belarussian leadership were likely.

Lukashenko was due to hold a news conference after the central election commission published preliminary results from Sunday's election giving him 82.6 percent of votes cast. Opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich was creditied with six percent.

But Milinkevich promised fresh protests following a demonstration on Sunday evening in which about 10,000 people turned out in blizzard conditions.

"These were not elections in Belarus but an unconstitutional seizure of power. We consider the (new) Belarussian authorities will be illegitimate," Milinkevich told a news conference, urging democratic countries not to recognise the vote.

The ballot was condemned by the 25-nation EU ahead of a report by election observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

"The climate of intimidation, the climate of hindering the opposition to do their work, is upsetting and this is what we will be discussing," said Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the EU presidency.

The EU was "very likely" to bolster sanctions against Belarus, which currently include travel restrictions on top officials, said the EU's External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

Such criticism contrasted with fulsome praise for the election by state television, which portrayed Sunday's protests as an attempted "light blue revolution" -- a colour that has connotations of homosexuality in the former Soviet republic.

The criticism also put the West on a collision course with Russia, which has accused Western election observers of bias when it comes to countries that Moscow considers part of its sphere of influence.

"The election occurred against a background of unprecedented external pressure," said the head of an observer team from the Moscow-led Commonwealth of Independent States, Vladimir Rushailo.

"The biased claims and harsh evaluations, as well as warnings by several states ... of possible political and economic measures, are seen by the CIS observers as an attempt to influence the election," Rushailo said.

Lukashenko earlier promised to "break the neck" of any unrest "like a duckling's", prompting fears of a harsh crackdown.

The EU has stepped up pressure on Lukashenko and efforts to promote democracy here since the Belarussian leader secured constitutional changes in 2004 that abolished the two-term limit on holding the presidency.

The confrontation in Belarus, sandwiched between the EU, Russia and Ukraine, is part of a battle for influence between the West and Moscow in the former Soviet territories.

The United States' reaction was expected to be no less critical than that of the EU. Washington has dubbed Belarus "Europe's last dictatorship".

Lukashenko called US President George W. Bush "the number one terrorist on the planet" as he cast his vote on Sunday.

The opposition would like to repeat people-power revolutions that have swept away entrenched regimes in other former Soviet republics -- Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine.

Lukashenko enjoys support in large segments of Belarussian society for ensuring that pensions are paid on time and maintaining economic stability.

But hundreds of activists were arrested ahead of the election and some analysts expected further arrests once international attention has turned elsewhere.

"There's certainly going to be a tightening up. I think things will get worse. This will become more and more a dictatorship," a Western diplomat predicted.

return to top

---

Reuters - 03.20.2006

US rejects Belarus election results

By Patricia Wilson

Cleveland (Reuters) -- The United States rejects the results of the Belarus election and believes the campaign that re-elected President Alexander Lukashenko was conducted in a "climate of fear," the White House said on Monday.

"We support the call for a new election," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

The United States had complained bitterly about events in Belarus ahead of the election.

McClellan warned authorities in Belarus against "threatening or detaining those exercising their political rights in the coming days and beyond," a reference to protests that have been reported there.

"The United States does not accept the results of the election. The election campaign was conducted in a climate of fear. It included arrests and beatings and fraud," McClellan said.

Washington was ready to cooperate with the European Union to take action against those responsible for election fraud and human rights abuses in Belarus, he told reporters.

Both the United States and the EU have accused Lukashenko of abandoning democratic principles and engaging in human rights abuses. They threatened sanctions if the election was found to be fraudulent.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack noted that the U.S. support for opposition calls for a new election was rhetorical. Washington had not decided on any concrete ways that it might help the opposition force a new vote, he said.

Washington was also ready to impose further limited sanctions against Belarus, such as expanding a list of senior officials banned from visiting the United States, McCormack said.

A U.S. official, who requested anonymity, acknowledged the United States had little sway over Lukashenko.

"The truth is we have little leverage over him, because we have limited economic or diplomatic ties -- and for that matter nor does Europe," the official said. "So, it's really up to the Russians, who have close integration with Belarus. But they are not exactly looking like they are ready to smack Lukashenko upside the head."

(Additional reporting by Saul Hudson)


return to top