By allowing Russian military presence in Belarus, president Aliaksandr Lukashenka has forfeited his country’s sovereignty.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, left, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 18, 2022.
Sergei Guneyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images
Belarus’ alliance with Russia is a strategic factor in the Ukraine war. The country’s long-term dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, has indicated he will do as Russian President Vladimir Putin says.
Questions remain as to Moscow’s part in the incident.
Belarusian security personnel conduct a search of the Ryanair flight from which they took dissident journalist Roman Protasevich.
EPA-EFE/ONLINER.BY HANDOUT
And there’s not too much the rest of the world can do to stop them.
In exile or prison: Belarus opposition figures Svetlana Tikhanovsksaya, Veronika Tsepkalo and Maria Kolesnikova.
Natalia Fedosenko/TASS/Alamy Live News
Associate Professor of Instruction in the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, Affiliate Professor at the Institute for Russian, European, and Eurasian Studies, University of South Florida