Lukashenko: Europe's Final Dictator
In the weeks leading up to February 24, 2022, Russian military forces were building up along the border. This was part of a long history of Russian aggression in Ukraine. Within the first week, Russian soldiers and armor were able to break into the Chernobyl exclusion zone as well as the suburbs of the capital Kyiv. Kyiv is in the north of the country and while Russia was advancing in Ukraine, they had been a second ally.
Belarus is an eastern European country that has long enjoyed a favorable position with Russia. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Belarus has been one of Russia's closest allies. Over time, however, Ukraine did something that neither Russia nor Belarus did: change. In 2014, Ukraine underwent a massive government transition toward Western democracy. As a result, as Russia began militarizing around their border, Alexander Lukashenko was more than happy to lend a hand.
Lukashenko has not been at the forefront of recent politics. Russia has launched an invasion of Ukraine. Nonetheless, he is still a key player in the war in Ukraine. Elected in 1991, immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Lukashenko claimed to offer “prosperity to Belarus” at a time when the country was in despair in almost all aspects. He claimed to bring security, crush inflation, prioritize Belarus, and bring a new “non-western” view to Belarus. Lukashenko’s party won the election with a colossal majority of the votes. Russia was able to move past the Soviet era, as well as the Baltic states and the Western Block, and Belarus almost remained at a standstill. Time barely moved for almost thirty years. Meanwhile, Lukashenko established more laws favoring his party. My personal favorite was a law stating that it was illegal to take a picture of the back of his head due to his balding insecurity.
In 2020, Lukashenko won his sixth election. The election was surrounded by controversy and was criticized by Western governments. The election produced an 81% win for Lukashenko. The second-place winner's reward: prison. Siarhei Tsikhanouski was the main opposition and had popularity among young Belarusians, after the lost election he was immediately imprisoned. His wife kept leading the Belarusian democrats but when she attempted to run she too was arrested.
Lukashenko continued to assume more control over his people. His actions came to a climax on May 23, 2021. Ryanair Flight 4978 was flying to Vilnius Lithuania from Athens, Greece. On board was Roman Protasevich, a Belarussian journalist who was extremely critical of Lukashenko (Roman previously had to leave Belarus due to his criticism). As the flight made it into Belarusian airspace, a control tower alerted the pilots of a bomb on board. The flight made an emergency landing at Minsk. Immediately, police boarded the plane and took Roman and his girlfriend away. They were later arrested and convicted on criminal charges.
This incursion sparked international outrage and all flights were banned from Belarusian airspace. It also sparked EU sanctions against Belarus, which resulted in a crisis that involved even more coverage. Lukashenko vowed to flood the EU with crime and refugees. Lukashenko's government authorized a plan in which refugees would be flown in from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Then these refugees, with little money, and ability to communicate with Belarusians, and in large quantities were driven to the border with Poland and Lithuania and ordered to cross the border. Belarus nonetheless continued to smash waves of refugees up against the border with some breaking through, even going as far as to order the refugees to cross at gunpoint, or giving them shovels to dig under the wall. The unfortunate situation which brought thousands into a horrible situation was all because of Lukashenko’s dislike of a journalist. Due to the stubbornness of Lukashenko, over twenty migrants have been confirmed killed.
Up to this point, Lukashenko has been at the forefront of European politics as the West has tried to remove him in subtle ways. However, Russia's invasion drew away the spotlight. Recently it has been speculated that Lukashenko will send the Belarusian army into Ukraine as part of his alliance with Russia. Lukashenko has also clearly stated that he is in complete support of Putin placing Nuclear weapons in Belarus.
By Jackson Stewart