Only Losers
Lukashenka, the People, and the Election
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Manipulated elections have become the norm in Belarus under Aliaksandr Lukashenka. For a long time, support for the regime was considered so great that manipulation was not needed. That has changed. The people have lost their confidence in Lukashenka and his regime. The dictator reacted with repression and violence. The regime’s brutal actions reveal its weakness. The forces of democracy and civil society in Belarus deserve solidarity and support. Civil society should move to the centre of a coherent EU Belarus policy.
(Osteuropa 12/2010, pp. 27–32)