Merkel Meets with Belarusian Opposition Leader

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is the Belarusian opposition leader. (The Calvert Journal)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya on September 29. This meeting comes amid Merkel’s adamant efforts to convince other EU leaders to impose sanctions against Belarus –or more specifically, targeting Alexander Lukashenko, his three sons, and other government officials.

Merkel hopes that the EU would follow Britain’s restrictive sanctions on the authoritarian regime. Her meeting with the opposition leader serves as yet another tactic to increase pressure on Lukashenko to peacefully solve this issue.

Tsikhanouskaya asked that Merkel play a stronger role in this mediation, saying, “our main ask for her was to be a leader in this mediation, to call for other countries to participate in mediation for starting this negotiation.”

However, Merkel has not yet responded to this request, to which a positive response might be futile anyways: Lukashenko repeatedly rejected any peaceful dialogue with his opposition despite the pleas of his citizens and world leaders. 

Tsikhanouskaya remains in exile after fleeing Belarus shortly after the August 9 Belarusian presidential election, claiming that the landslide victory for Lukashenko was fraudulent. Election officials claimed that the leader was re-elected with 80 percent of the vote, while the opposition party, poll workers, and the majority of Belarusian citizens took to the streets to protest this allegedly fabricated result. Protests have continued in spite of Lukashenko’s repeated threats and shows of violence. Supporters instead found increased support in most of the international community, who recognize the Belarusian right to democracy.