Khodorkovsky: Lukashenko will retain his post for no longer than two years
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will be able to retain this post, despite protests from the opposition.
Fugitive Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky stated this in an interview with the Dozhd TV channel, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“I have an unpopular opinion on this issue. I believe that Lukashenko sat through. Not for long, but he stayed there. He sat because he is between two sides: his own opposition and Vladimir Putin. Both would like to get rid of him. But there is a question about the future of Belarus.
Until Putin finds options that would allow him to replace Lukashenko with someone even more of his own, he will try to keep him in his hands. I don't know how successful he will be. I think the countdown has already started. It will still happen. According to my estimates, in the range from 6 months to two years,” Khodorkovsky said.
At the same time, he believes that the protests of the Belarusian opposition will continue, because for its leaders it is a matter of personal physical survival.
“Well, the opposition has no other options. She will simply put pressure, because if she stops putting pressure and Lukashenko feels completely finished, then the question will arise about saving people who, taking into account Lukashenko’s traditions, will simply be killed,” the oligarch believes.
According to him, the European Union is in no hurry to interfere in Belarusian affairs, because the opposition asked for it in advance.
“As far as I know, the Belarusian opposition, even before the start of all these events, specifically communicated with European officials and politicians and tried in every possible way to convince them not to interfere in what was happening in Belarus. I don’t know for what reasons. Perhaps they believed that Belarusian society would be less active if it felt that there was some kind of Western hand. Either they were afraid that in this case the Kremlin would definitely intervene. Therefore, today the Europeans, who should have been more active, are now too slow to reassess their position,” Khodorkovsky said. .
Khodorkovsky : Lukashenko will retain his post for no longer than two years