Cichanoŭskaja adviser: Łukašenka’s UN invite does not make him legitimate

May 12, BPN. A legal adviser to Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja has said that an invitation for Alaksandr Łukašenka to the United Nations does not legitimize him as Belarus’ leader.

Kryścina Rychter told BPN that it matters how the invitation was worded: whether it was for him personally or for Belarus as a UN member state.

“Belarus is a member of the United Nations. And it is a very conservative and bureaucratic organization, a forum precisely for the nations,” Rychter said. She stressed that “for the UN organization, whoever has effective power over the territory is its representative.”

Belarusian media reported today that UN Secretary-General António Guterres personally invited Łukašenka to the 2023 Sustainable Development Goals Summit. The published excerpts of Łukašenka’s reply contain no direct confirmation of his visit to the summit in New York, only a promise that the country will be properly represented.

Rychter said she understands the public’s confusion after the news, as the democratic forces, led by Cichanoŭskaja as president-elect, are trying to take over the regime’s place in international organizations.

“You have to understand that for conservative organizations like the United Nations, everything works within the paradigm of boundaries they themselves have invented,” Rychter explained. Therefore, for international organizations “the democratic forces of Belarus are a challenge” that can lead to change. For example, the Council of Europe, of which Belarus is not a member but “has a special status there,” has appointed Belarus’ democratic and civil society as a contact group, she said.

She pointed out that even dictators are allowed to participate in the United Nations. “If someone has committed crimes as a regime, even against humanity, it doesn’t mean that these people can’t participate in UN events as they retain effective power over the territory of the country,” she said.