Like those underground peat fires shielded from view, democracy in Belarus is burning right now, and the corrupt, despotic regime of President Alexander Lukashenko is the decaying swamp, dry and ripe for destruction. Just two years ago, I ran for office against Europe’s longest-serving and most oppressive ruler. I was forced to stand in the shoes of my husband, Siarhei, after Lukashenko’s secret police – terrified to face the will of the Belarusian people – shut him down along with every other potential opponent. When I put my name in, I didn’t expect to win. After all, Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994, his regime morphing from the mild authoritarian rule of a collective farm boss to a vicious autocracy that now has 1,300 political prisoners in its prisons. As my team and I watched the election results unfold from our headquarters in Minsk, we were surprised to see tens of thousands of photos of ballot papers with a checkmark next to my name flooding the internet. In the evening, people remained at the polls to demand a fair count. After being refused, thousands demonstrated in the city center, starting a revolution in the country that continues to this day. Belarus has become a political wasteland. Civil society was forced to go underground. Journalists publish their material anonymously. However, Lukashenko is deeply unpopular and much weaker than many assume. He is supported by no more than 25% of the population: mainly pensioners, bureaucrats and security service personnel, who depend on the state for jobs in a tank economy. Lukashenko would not have survived the uprising that followed the stolen 2020 election if not for Vladimir Putin. The Russian president sent in propagandists, financial support and, eventually, tanks in a bid to shore up his old Soviet ally – then forced it to pay its debts by asking for support for the disastrous invasion of Ukraine 18 months later. Lukashenko’s unpopular support for Putin’s illegal war, which so frightened the developed world, should hasten the beginning of its end. Millions of Belarusians are furious that Russian troops were allowed to march on our soil before launching their failed attack on Kyiv. Sanctions have already been imposed against Lukashenko and his associates. But they could go much further. We need more monetary and secondary sanctions targeting the state economy that fuels Lukashenko’s KGB intelligence and Putin’s war machine. Belarusian state-owned banks should be eliminated from the global financial system and state-owned companies should be expelled from the Swift banking regime. Of course, Lukashenko does not care that Belarus is a vassal state. At every stage of his rule, he has sided with Russia over his own people. Lukashenko wanted us to speak Russian and not our own language. It was rumored that his personal goal at one stage was to become the president of Russia. Despite the media blackouts, a critical mass of the Belarusian people now understand that they are being ruled by a Kremlin agent occupying the top of a country they don’t want to exist. Public revulsion is growing. The democratic fires of Belarus will eventually roar, the only question is when. At the UN general assembly, which opened last week, the international community must come together and send a strong message that the world is united behind the democratic majority in Belarus. The nature of Lukashenko’s empire means that sanctions can be applied relatively easily without too much harm to innocent Belarusians. UN member states can target state entities that rely on Lukashenko’s patronage, leaving the private sector to flourish. Belarusian media and civil society need financial support. This would create incentives for more and more people to choose the path of democracy, justice and the rule of law. At the UN General Assembly, Belarus must be at the table, not at the table, and our territorial independence and political sovereignty must be guaranteed. Lukashenko has placed Belarus at the center of the crisis in Eastern Europe. However, it remains part of the solution – our geographic location is of huge importance to the Kremlin. Remove the Lukashenko puppet and remove Putin’s Belarusian “balcony”, which towers over Eastern Europe and provides strategic access to Poland and the Baltic states. Undoubtedly, the future of my country is already in the diplomatic channels. But the world must not bow to Russian pressure. They must not give up a square meter of Belarus in an effort to end Putin’s desperate war. Finally, the UN must make it very clear that Lukashenko’s request to deploy Russian nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil would provoke a serious response. Just like Ukraine, Belarus gave up its nuclear arsenal in 1994 in exchange for security guarantees from the West – and Russia. Putin has now exceeded Moscow’s obligations under international law. The prospect of moving Russian nukes to Belarus, which borders many NATO countries, would be a nightmare for the West. Belarusians are very patient people. We have suffered too much without complaint. One of our national characteristics is ciarpila, which means “I endured”. After 28 years, we have had enough at the hands of Lukashenko. It is time for the international community to help us ignite an inferno that finally consumes this turbulent tyrant.
