The United States has appointed an ambassador to Belarus - this is a formal recognition of Lukashenko
The US Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs approved the candidacy of Deputy Secretary of State Julie Fisher for the post of Ambassador to Belarus.
The committee's website reports this, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Julie Fisher worked at the US embassies in Tbilisi under President Saakashvili and in Kyiv under President Yushchenko. She was Chargé d'Affaires of the United States in Russia.
“The only question is: do we even need an American ambassador? To us – both in Belarus and in Russia. Especially if Biden wins. We lived without him, and it was fine. With our own hands we will create a powerful center of destabilization,” commented political scientist Alexei Dzermant, loyal to the Belarusian government, commenting on the news.
His colleague, who fled to Ukraine, Igor Tyshkevich, believes that the appointment of the American ambassador creates an intrigue with the US recognition of President Alexander Lukashenko.
“The US Ambassador has been appointed. The intrigue remains - when he will arrive. The fact is that formally the accreditation documents must be accepted by the president of the country. Thus, before the inauguration (this means in the coming days) - a political signal that will be interpreted differently in Belarus. After the inauguration, a signal to other partners who declare non-recognition of Lukashenko’s powers,” Tyshkevich wrote in his Telegram channel.
According to some signs, Lukashenko's inauguration may take place today.
Reports about Fisher's possible appointment as ambassador to Belarus appeared in the American media in February immediately after the visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Minsk. Apparently, he agreed on this candidacy with the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.
The restoration of diplomatic representation between the United States and Belarus at the ambassadorial level was announced back in September 2019.
Minsk recalled its ambassador to America in 2008 after the United States imposed sanctions against Belarus in response to Minsk’s refusal to release oppositionist and ex-presidential candidate Alexander Kazulin from the colony. At the same time, the head of the American diplomatic mission in Belarus, Karen Stewart, was asked to leave the country.
In April 2019, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei officially informed the US State Department George Kent about the lifting of restrictions on the number of embassy employees in Minsk.
As Freedom House representative Sofia Orloski said, expanding the staff of the American embassy in Minsk will allow increasing financial assistance to non-governmental organizations working against the Belarusian authorities and the idea of integration with Russia.
The US has appointed an ambassador to Belarus, formally recognizing Lukashenko.