Tikhanovsky: Belarus protests currently unlikely
Sergei Tikhanovsky / Instagram
After the brutal suppression of 2020 protests in Belarus,
a new wave of unrest is currently unlikely, Belarusian opposition figure and
former political prisoner Sergei Tikhanovsky said on March 19.
In a comment to Ukrinform news agency, he said that “there is no protest potential in Belarus right now.”
Tikhanovsky attributed the lack of protest energy to the crackdown on the 2020 protests and to what he called a lack of “any real support” from other countries. At the same time, he said the current regime cannot regain public trust or rebuild the social contract with the citizenry.
“That's why Minsk propagandists invent new reasons and themes for ‘uniting the Belarusian people,” Tikhanovsky said.
“Meanwhile, the people are united in their dislike of the authorities and their desire to change them.”
On March 19, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko
met with a delegation led by U.S. special envoy John Cole in Minsk. After the
meeting, the United States eased sanctions against Belarus, while Lukashenko released
250 political prisoners.
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