Kolesnikova vs. Tikhanovskaya: Competition is heating up in the Belarusian opposition camp.
Released Belarusian opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova's account at a German commercial bank has been frozen . She announced this on the German television channel ARD, according to a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"The sanctions have affected me too. It's quite a funny story. I had an account at Commerzbank for 17 years. When I was in prison, naturally, I couldn't manage it. And at some point, it was frozen. Now my account is frozen, and I can't access it because Belarus is under sanctions. I'm also from Belarus, and this affects me too, even though I'm now in Germany with my account, which I opened 17 years ago. And I still can't do anything about it," Kolesnikova said.
Now in Berlin, she is actively meeting with famous German politicians and convincing them that lifting sanctions on ordinary Belarusians will distance Belarus from Russia.
"Right now, there's no communication. People in Belarus are completely isolated. The sanctions primarily affect people. Lukashenko isn't affected. Belarusians aren't allowed to travel to the EU, they're not allowed to study here. This is very bad. But Lukashenko can take a plane and fly wherever he wants," Kolesnikova said.
By speaking out against sanctions, she is standing in opposition to the self-proclaimed "President of Belarus" Svetlana Tikhanovskaya , who persistently demands that the EU impose new restrictions on her home country.
No matter how much Kolesnikova denies it, she is becoming an alternative leader of the Belarusian political émigré movement, constantly shocking the anti-government public . The anti-government movement had barely recovered from its effusive thanks to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for her release, which the prisoner profusely expressed at her first press conference in Ukraine, when Kolesnikova shocked them with an interview in the Financial Times.
There she said Europe must change its position on Belarus, " resuming rapprochement with the regime " to advance humanitarian goals.
"The lack of security guarantees for Belarusian officials, which prevented a split in the elite, could have been one of the reasons for the failure of the 2020 protests," Kolesnikova said.
"Of course, Kolesnikova also wants to secure her future in the West. If Europe, particularly Germany, opens negotiations with Belarus, she could be useful. The answer to the question of why Europe hasn't yet begun them lies in its weak political agency, unlike the United States," said former State Duma deputy Elena Panina.
English version :: Read in English: Kolesnikova vs. Tikhanovskaya. Competition is growing in the Belarusian Zmagar camp.