The Sakharov Prize to the Belarusian opposition

The Sakharov Prize, established by the European Parliament since 1988, with the aim of recognizing people and organizations that have distinguished themselves in the defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms and already awarded, among others to Nelson Mandela, was awarded for 2020 to the opposition present in Belarus, following the initiatives taken against the dictator Lukashenko. It is not the first time that the action against the dictator of Minsk has been awarded the Sakharov Prize, in fact already in 2004 the recognition was awarded to the Belarusian Association of Journalists and in 2006 to the politician Aleksander Milinkevich. Specifically, the 2020 edition of the award was assigned to the Coordination Council of the Belarusian opposition, the group that was to be the guarantor for the successful transition of powers. Since its inception, the Coordination Council has been prosecuted by the Minsk government on charges of inciting social unrest and jeopardizing national security: reasons that have made it unconstitutional. The alternative candidate to Lukashenko, Svyatlana Tichanovskaja, is considered the moral guide of the Council, for her political action against the dictatorship, a factor that has led to her being forced into exile in Lithuania; defeated in the sham elections on 9 August, with an official percentage of votes in favor of Lukashenko of around 90%, the candidate was personally threatened, as well as her family and the other leader of the movement Maria Kolesnikova was jailed since last September 8. The elections were blatantly rigged, with a result that is at odds with all polls outside the regime and with a percentage that was a manifestation of the regime’s arrogance, but also stupidity. The demonstrations that followed the proclamation of Lukashenko’s victory were impressive, so much so as to make it clear that the dictator of Minsk is no longer tolerated by the citizens and has carried out a real coup, even according to the laws in force; unfortunately the large number of demonstrators in the streets caused the repression, confirming once again that the Minsk regime is, as well as illegitimate, deeply authoritarian. The award of the Sakharov Prize, however, comes late compared to the reaction of the leaders of the European Union to the Belarusian repressions: in fact, it took Brussels a month and a half not to recognize Lukashenko as the legitimate winner of the electoral competition, and it was also necessary to wait two months to issue sanctions against forty regime officials. On the other hand, the attitude of the European Parliament which has shown support for the defeated candidate since the beginning of the repression is different. The suspicion is that individual European countries are slow to take a position of explicit condemnation so as not to aggravate the already difficult relations with Russia, Minsk’s main ally. Moscow’s position is to be totally on Lukashenko’s side, even if it constitutes an uncomfortable ally, precisely because of the modalities implemented in the repression. Russia needs not to be infected by the protests at a time when the approval of Putin is in constant decline, especially due to a worsened economic condition, which is added to the continuing discontent with the lack of respect for civil rights; but for Moscow it is also important to maintain control, albeit indirect, over a country considered as its own area of ​​exclusive influence: what the Kremlin fears most is that with a change of government, Belarus can enter the orbit of the European Union , as has already happened for other former Soviet states. For Europe, once again, it is necessary to choose whether to have a pragmatic attitude or to neglect the reasons of real politik in order to defend rights. The award of the Sakharov Prize, however, remains a rather clear-cut stance, which could be followed by a more severe attitude towards Belarus, if there were not the bulky Russian presence behind Minsk; certainly also the fact of being a party to a possible move to Brussels with a change of power structures in Minsk complicates the conduct that Europe must keep, because it can easily be accused of defending rights with ulterior motives, however the facts following the Belarusian elections are not contestable, so much so that Russia itself was embarrassed, at least in the phases immediately following the first repressions, to defend Lukashenko. However, the Sakharov Prize serves to keep the situation in Minsk at the center of attention.