The hard fist against the opposition to the Belarusian government for 27 years in the hands of Alexander Lukashenko does not spare even the diplomatic representatives of the countries of the European Union. The newly expelled French ambassador to Minsk, Nicolas de Bouillane de Lacoste, is well aware of this. In the cold pro-Russian capital, relations with Europe are already reduced to a flicker by the oppressive attitude of the Lukashenko government, which is using migrants on the rise on the “Belarus Route” to put pressure on European governments. The authoritarian leader’s goal is to force Brussels to review the sanctions imposed on Minsk in recent months.
The already cold relations then stiffened again after the communication from the Belarusian Foreign Ministry which, judging by what was reported by the spokesman for de Lacoste: “sent the ambassador the request to leave Minsk before 18 October”. Although the government has not provided further explanations, local media reported the news that de Lacoste’s refusal to hand over his credentials directly to Luskashenko, preferring the foreign minister, Vladimir Makei, to the basis of the expulsion. The rudeness would not have been digested by the leader.
On his departure for Paris, de Lacoste left a “video message addressed to the Belarusian people that will appear on the embassy’s website”. France, like other European Union countries, did not recognize the results of the presidential elections last August, which granted a sixth term to Lukashenko and unleashed unprecedented protests for several months in the former Soviet republic allied with Russia.
If international relations seem to be at a point of no return, the offensive against the internal opposition is even more ferocious: a few days ago, a court in Minsk ruled that the Telegram channel of the opponent and former presidential candidate of Belarus Svetlana Tikhanovskaya will have to be banned because she is an “extremist”. This position implies liability and criminal consequences for all subscribers to the channel. Tikhanovskaya was the second most voted candidate in the 2020 elections, which preceded an unprecedented wave of protests. against the Lukashenko regime.