Sanctions pushing Belarus towards Russia, Łukašenka needs “exit strategy” – Macron

June 1, BPN. In 2020, Western countries sanctioned Alaksandr Łukašenka’s regime, but de facto they “pushed Belarus towards Russia,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on May 31 at the GLOBSEC 2023 Bratislava Forum.

“It’s clear that it was a fake election and that this is not a state where the rule of law is duly respected,” he said in apparent reference to Łukašenka’s disputed reelection in 2020. “We were right to be tough.”

At the same time, Belarus had been “very careful with Russia” before 2020, he said, claiming that “the president and part of his administration wanted to join NATO.”

Despite the deployment of Russian troops, Belarus is not a part of Russia’s war on Ukraine and the West should do everything possible to prevent it from joining this war, the French leader said.

The West should not take a more aggressive stance towards Belarus as it would only expand the conflict in the region, Macron stressed.

Macron supported aid to Belarusian civil society and assistance in conducting free and fair elections in the future. Pressure on Łukašenka should continue but he also needs a clear exit strategy, he concluded.

“The West needs to be tougher to prevent Belarus from being dragged into war. And this is right,” Franak Viačorka, an aide to the Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja, tweeted, commenting on Macron’s remarks. It is also important to secure the release political prisoners and hold new free and fair elections, Viačorka added.