MINSK — Hundreds of university students have gathered in the Belarusian capital for a march after the country’s opposition called for a nationwide strike to coincide with the first day of the school year.
Columns of students carrying banned red-and-white flags that have long been a symbol of opposition to President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s rule flocked into the center of Minsk on September 1.
At least 17 people were detained as riot police dispersed protesters at several locations, according to the Vyasna human rights group.
“September 1 is a day of knowledge. Knowledge of the meaning of Belarusian solidarity. Join this one-day strike, support the workers and show the government who is the real source of power,” opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s team said in a statement.
Lukashenka, who has kept a tight grip on Belarus for 26 years, was declared the winner in an August 9 presidential election, which was widely viewed as rigged in his favor.
Thousands of citizens have since taken to the streets across the country to protest the results, saying Lukashenka’s challenger, Tsikhanouskaya, actually won the election.
The protesters are demanding the 66-year-old leader’s resignation, the release of all political prisoners, and free and fair elections.
Much of Europe, as well as the United States and other countries, have rejected the election results and Lukashenka’s crackdown on protesters and opposition members both before and after the vote.
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia announced on August 31 that they had slapped travel sanctions on several top Belarusian officials, including Lukashenka, while the European Union has agreed to impose sanctions on up to 20 senior Belarusian officials suspected of involvement in election fraud and the brutal crackdown on protesters.
With the goodwill built up during a thaw in relations with the West quickly evaporating, Lukashenka, who has rejected the opposition’s demands, has turned an eye towards the Kremlin, a traditional ally despite recent strains sparked by Minsk’s courting of others.
Crisis In Belarus
Read our coverage as Belarusians take to the streets to demand the resignation of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and call for new elections after official results from the August 9 presidential poll gave Lukashenka a landslide victory.
On September 1, Lukashenka said that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin will safeguard “our common homeland from Brest to Vladivostok” and that he was ready to reroute the country’s cargo from Baltic ports to Russian ports in response to the sanctions imposed by Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
“They say, it would be more expensive for Belarus,” BelTa news agency quoted Lukashenka as saying.
“Of course, it would be a little bit disadvantageous for us. But we can agree with the Russians on tariffs,” he said
Addressing students at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations on September 1, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western countries of “delivering verdicts” on the crisis in Belarus, which he said is “unacceptable in the modern world.”
Moscow has consistently accused the West of interfering in the internal affairs of Belarus.