‘Chief Task for Belarus is Not to Become Part of Russia After Putin’s War in Ukraine Ends,’ Babariko Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 11 – The chief task of Belarusians today is to ensure that Belarus does not become part of the Russian Federation after Putin’s war in Ukraine ends, a real risk in that the Kremlin dictator may try to cover his own failings in Ukraine by annexing Belarus, Viktor Babariko says.

            Speaking to  Belarusian emigres in Lithuania, the former presidential candidate in 2020 who now lives in Berlin says that the threat of Russia absorbing Belarus is greater than it was in 2020 and that Belarusians must devote all their efforts to preventing that from happening (rfi.fr/ru/европа/20260511-виктор-бабарико-сейчас-главная-задача-для-беларуси-на-стать-частью-россии).

            Despite what Lukashenka and Putin have done, Belarusians won a major victory six years ago because “before 2020 there was never before such a growth of national self-consciousness in Belarus.” Indeed, one may say that “it was precisely then that the Belarusian nation was born.”

            Babariko who himself was a political prisoner before being released and then expelled and whose son is still behind bars in Belarus as a hostage says that he favors all forms of resistance to Lukashenka and Putin except for taking up arms. That would prove counterproductive, he suggests.