Immune to criticism of himself and warnings about Corona: Aleksandr Lukashenka dances with a young woman at the “Youth Ball” on Tuesday in Minsk.
Image: dpa
Belarus’ rulers are trying to show strength: dancing tightly, despite the corona pandemic, and railing against their critics.
Dhe Belarusian ruler Aleksandr Lukashenka has complained of an “information war” from the West following the latest sanctions against his country. “The mutiny, the blitzkrieg and the (…) revolution failed,” said Lukashenka, according to the state agency Belta, on Wednesday when security forces visited the capital Minsk. That is why the opposition are now sitting “in warm offices abroad and forging further intrigues against our state”.
The day before, Lukashenko, who was criticized as the “last dictator in Europe”, showed himself at the “New Year’s Ball for Young People” in the Presidential Palace in Minsk. The photos show how the 66-year-old ruler dances tightly and without a mask with a young woman in the middle of the corona pandemic. More than 300 school and university students were invited to the event. Lukashenka had recently visited hospitals with corona patients repeatedly.
The EU and the United States imposed sanctions over the violence of the security forces against peaceful demonstrators following the presidential election on August 9, which was widely considered to be falsified. After 26 years in power, Lukashenka had again been declared the winner with 80.1 percent. The democracy movement, however, sees Svetlana Tichanowskaya as the winner. Several people died in protests, hundreds were injured and around 30,000 were arrested.