The Protests

    The protests in Belarus have largely been due to the handling of Covid-19 and the results of the 2020 presidential election by Alexander Lukashenko and his government. Within the country of 9.4 million people, there have been 565,000 cases as of October 2021. Belarus has remained as the one of a few countries that have not gone into a lockdown due to the virus. In the presidential election, Lukashenko garnered 80% of the vote with the largest opposition candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya receiving only 10% of the vote. There is widespread belief that these results were fraudulent with polling conducted by the Center for East European and International Studies of Humboldt University finding that 52.5% of those polled who participated in the election voted for Tsikhanouskaya with only 17.6% voting for Lukashenko. These issues of the handling of Covid-19 and the presidential election have served as a catalyst for the issues that the people of Belarus have been dealing with since independence from the USSR.

Protests in Grodno

Tsikhanouskaya in protest against detention of political prisoners

    As with any protest, there are many differences in belief of those protesting. While many of those protesting support the instillation of Tsikhanouskaya as president and the establishment of a new democratic government, this does not represent everyone. Many people want only new elections that are free and fair and to go on from there and see where it leads the country. Others do agree that Lukashenko should be removed from power but do not necessarily support Tsikhanouskaya or her Coordination Council that seeks to transition Belarus towards democracy. Forty five percent of those polled supported new elections as the primary goal that they supported the most, above the transfer of power to the Coordination Council at 13% or to Tsikhanouskaya at 8%. Belarus is additionally split as to whether to remain tied to Russia or to transition towards the EU with 30% for Russia, 40% for Western Europe and the EU, and 30% undecided. The ideological divisions of Belarus and the protests have been capitalized on by Lukashenko and have allowed him to remain as Europe's last dictator. 

Demands of the Belarusian Protests

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    February 4, 2021. 

    https://theconversation.com/belarus-protests-why-people-have-been-taking-to-the-streets-new-data-154494. 

Kim, Lucian. “From Exile, Tikhanovskaya Calls for '2nd Wave of Protests' against Belarus Regime.” NPR. NPR, March 24, 2021. 

    https://www.npr.org/2021/03/24/980790510/from-exile-tikhanovskaya-calls-for-2nd-wave-of-protests-against-belarus-regime. 

Dickinson, Peter. “Dictator vs Democracy: Belarus One Year On.” Atlantic Council, October 29, 2021. 

    https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/belarusalert/dictator-vs-democracy-belarus-one-year-on/. 

Nechepurenko, Ivan, and Anton Troianovski. “In Belarus Town, People Tasted a Bite of Freedom. It Lasted 2 Days.” The New 

    York Times. The New York Times, August 21, 2020. 

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/21/world/europe/grodno-belarus-protests.html. 

Douglas, Nadja, Regina Elsner, Félix Krewatzek, Julia Langbein, and Gwendolyn Sass. “Belarus at a Crossroads: Attitudes on 

    Social and Political Change.” Zentrum für Osteuropa- und internationale Studien (ZOiS), March 25, 2021. 

    https://www.zois-berlin.de/publikationen/belarus-at-a-crossroads-attitudes-on-social-and-political-change. 

Elagina, D. “Belarus: Covid-19 Situation 2021.” Statista, October 14, 2021.    

    https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104310/coronavirus-situation-belarus/. 

Shotter, James. “Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: Belarusian Political Prisoners Used by Regime as 'Hostages'.” Financial Times. 

    Financial Times, June 21, 2021. 

    https://www.ft.com/content/ca75bc3d-53c4-4f46-8be0-3442e521c1dc.