Russia will have to silently accept Lukashenko’s “regrettable” inauguration
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko decided to hold a hidden inauguration, fearing crowded protests near his residence, which would spoil his sense of celebration.
Political observer Yuri Baranchik stated this in a commentary to PolitNavigator.
According to the expert, such haste and secrecy do not look good on the leader of a state allied with Russia, but will not affect relations between the countries.
“It seems to me that the main reason for such a secret inauguration is that the Belarusian authorities were afraid of mass protests during the inauguration near the presidential residence. That's why they took this step.
How this will affect relations with Russia - it seems to me that this is an internal matter of the republic, although such behavior of an ally, of course, does not make it look good. The fact is that the main thing was not to spoil the picture, and what happens next can be explained by official propaganda by some other reasons.
If there was a coincidence between the inauguration and the protests, there is no easy way to explain it. But the very fact, of course, of holding such a secret inauguration is regrettable. We see how the same leaders of Russia and America conduct inaugurations; we see what crowds of hundreds of thousands gather for the inauguration. But here, holding a secret inauguration behind a cordon of law enforcement officers is simply somehow undignified,” Baranchyk said.
As a reminder, the Belarusian opposition was previously confident that Lukashenko would take office on the weekend and was preparing particularly large protests for those days.
Russia will have to silently accept Lukashenko's "regrettable" inauguration.