Why Belarus Must Shed Itself of Alexander Lukashenko

Reuters

Why Belarus Must Shed Itself of Alexander Lukashenko

The social contract that kept Lukashenko in power for so long is now expiring. The forthcoming election is a moment of truth.

Even if Lukashenko rides out this crisis, at whatever cost, he is Belarus’s past. He has played the West long enough. The status quo is no longer sustainable. It is time for the EU and the United States to side with the Belarusian people and the future they seek. 

Dr. Nigel Gould-Davies is the editor of Strategic Survey and senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. From 2007—09 he was Ambassador to Belarus. He is the author of Tectonic Politics: Global Political Risk in an Age of Transformation (Brookings, 2019).  

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