Brutal Belarus crackdown sets back US effort to pry nation from Russia’s orbit
by Joel Gehrke, Foreign Affairs Reporter
August 15, 2020 12:37 PMBelorussian autocrat Alexander Lukashenko’s violent crackdown on protests against fraudulent elections is throwing a wrench into an effort by the United States and NATO allies to peel away Russia’s closest ally.
“If Lukashenko beats his own people, if he continues on what he's doing these days, then he is in Russia's orbit anyway,†a Baltic official said. “I don't see the point in speaking with him, engaging him, if he is beating people so brutally.â€
Thousands of Belorussians poured into the streets of Minsk and other cities over the last week after Lukashenko claimed to have won 80% of the vote in a corrupt election involving the man known as “Europe’s last dictator.†It’s an unprecedented show of domestic hostility for his regime, but Western observers doubt that the upheaval is strong enough to force his departure — and those misgivings, combined with the brutality of Lukashenko’s security services in response to the outcry, presents a dilemma for American and European officials who have sought to stymie Kremlin ambitions in the former Soviet satellite state.
<..snip..>
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/brutal-belarus-crackdown-sets-back-us-effort-to-pry-nation-from-russias-orbit
