Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko could betray Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner mercenary group, despite sheltering him after the armed uprising in neighboring Russia, exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said.
“They are not allies. They cannot trust each other,” Tikhanovskaya told AFP in Brussels on Wednesday.
“Lukashenko can betray Prigozhin at any time” and “Prigozhin can betray Lukashenko,” he stressed.
The Belarusian leader said on Tuesday that the head of the Wagner group’s mercenaries had arrived in the country as part of a deal he struck to end an armed insurgency that was the biggest challenge yet. for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory against Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, said there was much to clarify about this deal.
He believed that Lukashenko’s aid to his main ally, Putin, was a marriage of convenience designed to save his own regime in Belarus. “It wasn’t just to save face for Putin, or to save Prigozhin, or to prevent civil war in Russia,” he said.
“He was just out for his personal survival, because Lukashenko knows that if the powers clash in Russia, he will be next,” he said.
The opposition leader, whose husband is imprisoned in Belarus, said that if Prigozhin and fighters from the Wagner group moved en masse to the country, it could pose a threat to Europe.
“The presence of Prigozhin himself or Wagner groups on our territory is primarily a threat to the people of Belarus and to our independence”, he emphasized. “In addition, their presence may pose a threat to Ukraine and also to our western neighbors,” he added.
“Wrongdoers and Murderers”
Prigozhin, a former Kremlin ally and caterer, built Russia’s most powerful private army and recruited thousands of prisoners to fight in Ukraine.
Tikhanovskaya condemned Lukashenko’s depiction as a “peacemaker” after he allegedly helped resolve the crisis in neighboring Russia.
Warned that Prigozhin could use the powers of the Wagner group to suppress dissent even more after a brutal campaign of repression since the disputed 2020 vote.
“This is the person who brought rapists and murderers to our country,” Tikhanovksaya said.
“What are these people going to do in our country? That’s the big question. How are they going to behave,” he wondered.
“Lack of attention”
Tikhanovskaya criticized the West’s “lack of attention” to the situation in Belarus as the country increasingly falls under Moscow’s rule after Putin declared his support for Lukashenko.
The Belarusian opposition leader said the failure of the international community to respond forcefully to Russia’s transfer of nuclear weapons to Belarus has emboldened Moscow and Minsk.
“We are still waiting for a response regarding the placement of nuclear weapons on our territory,” he complained. “When the world is silent at such an important moment, it is seen as weakness by dictators,” he argued.
It has been more than a year since the European Union (EU) last imposed sanctions on the Belarusian regime for its role in helping Moscow invade Ukraine.
The EU has repeatedly targeted Minsk with sanctions packages for its brutal crackdown on protests.
The EU member states have been talking about new measures for months, but have not agreed on them. Tikhanovksaya said the arrival of the Wagner group in Belarus could give new impetus to new punitive measures against the Lukashenko regime.
“Now criminals are welcomed by Lukashenko,” said the Belarusian opposition leader. “For example, new sanctions could be imposed on those who allowed this to happen,” he said.
Source: DN
