Another war in Eastern Europe?
With a population of only nine million people, Belarus is not a large country. However, strategically it is a significant country as it borders four countries: Russia and the NATO countries of Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine (Ukraine is an ally of NATO, but not yet a member). For Vladimir Putin's Russia, it has always been important who rules Belarus and how tight its relationships with the West are. Putin's dream has been and continues to be the merger of Belarus with Russia to get closer to the borders of NATO allies.
For 26 years, the dictator Alexander Lukashenko ruled Belarus, with the whole country falling under his dictatorial regime. Since 1994, he has not lost a single presidential "election" because he has sharply and ruthlessly suppressed any resistance to his regime. He planned to use the same methods to establish his power in the most recent election held on August 9, 2020. All opposition who wanted to see their country free of dictatorship and for whom most Belarusians were ready to vote were already in prisons. This included Sergey Tikhanovsky.
Tikhanovsky is a talented organizer and businessmen who got fed up with Lukashenko's dictatorship and wanted to see his country be part of the civilized world, so he decided to run for president. Lukashenko saw Tikhanovsky’s popularity among the Belarusians and that the people were following him. He did not want to tempt fate, so he gave the order to arrest Tikhanovsky.
When he talked about it in front of his audience in the city of Solegorsk, he proudly said, "Yes, I gave a signal with Tikhanovsky," and then harshly added, "Did I do something wrong?"
During the election campaign, Tikhanovsky’s wife Svetlana was constantly by his side. All the unforeseen things began to happen after her husband's next arrest, when his documents for registration as a candidate for president were rejected.
From that moment on, Svetlana decided to take matters into her own hands.
After her husband’s documents were rejected, she decided to run for president herself and turned in all the necessary documents for registration. Her documents were accepted.
Lukashenko "welcomed" Svetlana’s registration as a presidential candidate for one reason only: She had neither the political experience nor the necessary knowledge as she was just an ordinary housewife. He was sure that she was an excellent option to ridicule the opposition's attempts. Even in his worst nightmares he could not have imagined that everything would turn out to be quite the opposite and that this ordinary woman who once voted for him at age 18 would decide his fate.
Even her husband, who was still in jail, was shocked by the news that his wife had managed to submit the documents and register as a presidential candidate instead of him.
Svetlana was born in Belarus in 1982. In 2000, she graduated from high school with a gold medal. After earning a place in one of the Belarusian universities, she received a degree in foreign languages (English, German). After graduating, she worked as an English translator in various companies, including the Chernobyl Life Line (Ireland), a charity organization for assisting the Chernobyl accident victims. Svetlana never planned to become involved in politics. She had sought another career in her life, but destiny turned her in a different direction.
Among Lukashenko's opponents, she alone remained at large and had to run a campaign against an experienced dictator who had kept the country with an iron fist for 26 years and did not tolerate competitors. She knew firsthand what happened—and continues to happen—to his opponents, but did not flinch.
She understood that no matter what happened to her, only she had the opportunity and responsibility to unite all Belarusians against the dictator and his tyranny.
Svetlana’s fight was not easy. Her husband had been released from prison, then put back, but Lukashenko's tactics did not stop her. Svetlana's family and all Belarusians understood that the point of return had passed, and there was no returning to the past. Belarus must be free of the dictator and his dictatorship.
She got generous support from the representatives of other parties. Her passionate but straightforward honest speeches to the public were like a mirror where everyone, every family, could see themselves in her. Her presidential campaign turned into a nationwide movement for a free and independent Belarus, with democratic principles, fair election, and open doors to the Western world.
The more rallies and marches held in support of Svetlana , the more harshly Lukashenko's repressive apparatus acted. Prisons were overcrowded with her supporters. No laws controlled the lawlessness of Lukashenko's Special Forces. Beatings, torture, rape, sophisticated sadism, and even death—all these means justified the dictator's goal of staying in power. He even said that he could not imagine ever not being president.
Repressions did not work. Lukashenko saw and knew that, day after day, tens of thousands of Belarusians were taking to the streets in support of Svetlana while almost no one supported him.
Election day on August 9, 2020, became a turning point in the history of Belarus. When Lukashenko's election commission announced that 80% of Belarusians had voted for Lukashenko and only 10% for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, this level of unprecedented falsification turned all of Belarusian society into a political hurricane, ready to demolish both Lukashenko and his apparatus of government.
Horrified by the Belarusian people's reaction, Lukashenko turned to his political "brother"—Russia’s very own dictator, Putin—for help. Although they truly hate each other, they sincerely understand that they need one another for the time being. Putin promised to help and sent a group of special forces to the borders of Belarus.
In the current situation, Lukashenko understood that, as long as Tikhanovskaya was in his way, he would not be able to run the country his way.
KGB went into service immediately. The day after the election (August 10), the KGB began its operation. All media in Belarus and Russia simultaneously announced an assassination attempt was being planned for Tikhanovskaya because the opposition needed a "sacred sacrifice." Of course, some were too naive or stupid to believe in the KGB's benevolence toward the regime's opponents. If Tikhanovskaya became a "sacred sacrifice," it would only be for the KGB.
The ground was ready for this. All media in Belarus and Russia talked about "someone" from the opposition who craved this "sacred sacrifice."
For a long time, the general public will probably not know the pressure to which Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was subjected by the KGB sadists. What details did they use when describing to her the hellish torment of this "sacred sacrifice"? With whom would these hellish torments begin: her, her 10-year-old son, her 5-year-old daughter, or her husband, who is in prison and at the full disposal of the KGB sadists? In any case, she could not get past this hell, and hell could not pass her.
We can only make some assumptions from her words spoken in Lithuania: "I know that many will understand me, many will condemn me, and many will hate me. But, you know, God forbid you be faced with the choice I face." She also mentioned children, saying, "Children are the most important things in our lives." These are not just words; behind them hides history. I hope that there will be a time when she will talk about it without looking back.
At present, for security reasons, her exact location is classified. She is in Lithuania, but she has not stopped her political activities.
Today, the situation in Belarus remains critical. Putin is undoubtedly doing everything possible to ensure that Belarus remains in the orbit of Russian influence and maximally dependent on it. He needs Belarus to place a significant contingent of troops, missiles, strategic aviation, and other types of offensive equipment along Belarus's borders with NATO-allied states—in other words, to make Belarus a second Crimea.
Considering this, to ensure peace, the countries of Western Europe and the United States must do everything possible to stop Russian aggression toward Western Europe and help Belarus be a sovereign, democratic state that respects human rights and secures safety between Russia and the countries of Western Europe.
In this situation, only Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is the legitimate president of the Belarusian people. As Alexander Lukashenko has discredited himself in all respects of the electoral process, she has every right to represent Belarus in the international arena.
In her speech to the UN, she called for the urgent dispatch of a monitoring mission to Belarus to ascertain human rights violations. Her call was opposed only by the Belarusian, Russian, Chinese, and Venezuelan officials.
Her meetings with French president Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and other world leaders underscore her recognition in the Western world. Moreover, all her activities show their readiness to support Svetlana Tikhanovskaya's leadership and agenda in the best interests of the Belarussian people and their neighbors in the Western world.
The faster and more decisive measures the Western world leaders take to stabilize Belarus's situation, the less likely it will be that Russian aggression and blood-shedding will stain Belarus's streets.