President of Belarus Lukashenko | All Russian Tatar Society
In the face of a new round of sanctions by Western countries, Belarusian President Lukashenko recently criticized the United States for being "lawless in the world", angrily denounced Britain as a "running dog" of the United States, and said that he was not afraid of sanctions and did not "kneel" to the West.
August 9 coincided with the first anniversary of the 2020 general election in Belarus, when the United States, britain and Canada announced a new round of sanctions against Belarus. The US White House released news on the 9th that the United States launched the "largest sanctions measure" against Belarus, and more than 40 natural persons and enterprises in Belarus were included in the sanctions list, and the scope of sanctions involved defense, energy, potash production, tobacco, construction and transportation industries, as well as the Belarusian Olympic Committee, which was disputed at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The White House said the new sanctions, introduced on the first anniversary of the Belarusian election, are aimed at targeting the Lukashenko regime's "attacks on the democratic aspirations and human rights of the Belarusian people, transnational repression, and corruption." A U.S. Treasury official told The Associated Press that "a year later, the repression of the Lukashenko regime is expanding, including threats against an Olympian." ”
On August 1, 24-year-old Belarusian track and field sprinter Kristina Tymanovskaya claimed to have been threatened to be expelled from the coach for publicly criticizing the national team coach and forcibly taken to Tokyo's Haneda Airport to repatriate him. The continuous fermentation of the incident triggered a diplomatic attack on Belarus in the West, and Poland, the Czech Republic and other countries expressed their willingness to provide political asylum for Tymanovskaya. On August 2, Tymanovskaya entered the Polish Embassy in Japan and flew to Warsaw on the 4th. The United States and other Western countries criticized the Lukashenko regime for persecuting athletes, and imposed sanctions on the Belarusian Olympic Committee on the 9th in the name of assisting money laundering.
Belarusian track and field sprinter Kristina Tymanovskaya.
Britain followed in the footsteps of the United States, and sanctions against Belarus included a ban on the purchase of negotiable securities and money market instruments issued by the Belarusian government and state-owned banks, a ban on the flight of Belarusian Airlines aircraft over or landing in the UK, and a ban on the provision of technical assistance to Lukashenko's luxury fleet.
In addition, Canada has imposed sanctions on key areas of Belarus' economy. The EU said it supported a new round of sanctions in the United States, Britain and Canada, and would continue to put pressure on the Top Levels of Belarus.
In the face of Western sanctions, Lukashenko responded strongly at the annual press conference of more than 8 hours on the 9th, "Dialogue with the President". Lukashenko invited Western countries to the negotiating table rather than escalating sanctions wars. He also said he was not afraid of sanctions, "we will never kneel", and said that retaliation would be carried out.
According to the Satellite News Agency reported on the 10th, Lukashenko criticized the United States at a press conference for being "lawless around the world" and "Americans do not even know where Belarus is, but they accuse us of persecution." Lukashenko spoke of the Tymanovskaya incident, saying that "she did not do it alone, she was manipulated"
For Britain, Lukashenko even more dismissively called Britain a "running dog" of the United States, "sooner or later choked by the sanctions against Belarus." ”
Lukashenko asked the West, "Are you fomenting World War III?" There won't be a winner in this war, and if there is, it won't be you, so calm down."
On the same day, Lukashenko also expressed his desire to introduce Russia's S-400 anti-aircraft missile system, Lukashenko said, "When a new world war breaks out, this place (Belarus) will not be just a base, all the armed forces of Russia will be deployed here." ”
Author: Liu Chang
Editor: Shen Qinhan