Macron meets exiled Belrusian opposition leader in rare rebuke to Lukashenko

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya thanked French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday for supporting Belarusian people in their fight for freedom

Credit: Andrius Sytas/Reuters

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has become the first world leader to meet with exiled Belarusian opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

The move was a rare gesture of defiance against the country’s dictator Alexander Lukashenko who was sworn in for a new term in office last week.

Mrs Tsikhanouskaya, a former presidential candidate, was forced to flee Belarus the day after the Aug 9 election after threats were sent to her family.

Opposition protests engulfed Belarusian cities in response to a landslide win for Mr Lukashenko in the election, which is widely viewed as rigged.

Riot police responded with a vicious crackdown which saw thousands detained, hundreds injured and hundreds more tortured in police custody.

French President Macron met Mrs Tsikhanouskaya for talks in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on Tuesday after the European Union issued a statement, refusing to recognise Mr Lukashenko as a legitimate leader.

Mr Macron did not elaborate on the contents of the talks but said: “We need to be pragmatic and support the Belarusian people and we will do our best, believe me.”

Opposition protests in Belarus have now entered their seventh week, with tens of thousands marching in major cities every weekend and staging acts of civil disobedience throughout the week.

Mrs Tsikhanouskaya in remarks released by her press office on Tuesday called for new presidential elections this year as well as internationally mediated talks to avoid more violence and see through a peaceful transition of power.

“People’s lives are at stake,” she said, thanking President Macron for “supporting Belarusians in our fight for freedom.”

“The further we descend into the crisis, the more victims there will be _ that’s why we need to sit down for talks as soon as possible.”

Mrs Tsikhanouskaya emerged as an unlikely protest leader earlier this year when her husband, a popular blogger, was barred from running for president and subsequently jailed.

The stay-at-home mum led an impressive election campaign, tapping into deep-seated discontent and fatigue with Mr Lukashenko’s 26 year-long rule.

Mr Lukashenko has defended the brutal police crackdown and vowed to stay in power until his death.

Mrs Tsikhanouskaya said on Tuesday that she was prepared to negotiate with anyone, including Russia, which has backed the Belarusian 66-year old dictator, to see a peaceful transition in her home country.

After initial hesitation, Russia in recent weeks threw its weight behind Mr Lukashenko, hosting him in the Kremlin and offering him a $1.5 billion loan.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, in a video address to a Russia-Belarusian conference in Minsk on Tuesday said that Russia would like to expand economic cooperation with the Belarusian government which, he lamented, faces “unprecedented foreign pressure” in the wake of the elections.