Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigojine and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko are not allies and could be disloyal to each other, exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya told AFP.
“At any time, Lukashenko can betray Prigojine or Prigojine betray Lukashenko. They are not allies. They cannot trust each other,” Tikhanovskaya said in an interview on Wednesday.
Prigozhin arrived in Belarus on Tuesday, President Lukashenko announced. The head of the Wagner Group visited this country as part of a negotiated agreement to put an end to his rebellion in Russia.
But Ms Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory over Mr Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, believes much remains unclear about the alleged deal reached.
According to her, Mr Lukashenko’s decision to help President Putin was an act of personal convenience to save his own regime.
“He did not act to save face for Putin, nor to save Prigozhin, nor to prevent civil war from breaking out in Russia,” she said. “He only cared about his personal survival because Lukashenko knows that if factions in Russia clash, he will pay the price.”
If Prigojine and Wagner’s fighters flocked to Belarus in large numbers, it could threaten Europe, she also believes.
“The presence of Prigojine himself or of the Wagner group on our territory constitutes first and foremost a threat to the Belarusian people and to our independence”, affirms Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa.
“In addition, this presence could pose a threat to Ukraine and our western neighbors,” adds the leader of the opposition, whose husband is imprisoned in Belarus.
A former Kremlin ally and restaurant entrepreneur, Yevgeny Prigojine built Russia’s strongest private army and recruited thousands of convicts to fight in Ukraine.
He led a rebellion late last week that seemed to shake Vladimir Putin’s grip on Russia.
Ms Tikhanovskaïa denounces the fact that Mr Lukashenko is presented as a “peacemaker” after having allegedly helped to resolve the crisis.
And she warns that he could use Wagner’s forces to further suppress any dissent. “He is the person who brought rapists and murderers to our land,” she accuses.
“What will these people do in our country? That’s the big question. How will they behave?” she asks.
Ms. Tikhanovskaya also denounced the “lack of attention” of the West with regard to the situation in her country, which has been increasingly under the influence of Moscow since Vladimir Putin supported Mr. Lukashenko.
The international community’s lack of a firm response to Russia’s transfer of nuclear weapons to Belarus has emboldened Moscow and Minsk, she said.
“We are still awaiting a response to the deployment of nuclear weapons on our territory. When the world remains silent during such an important moment, dictators see it as a weakness.”
The latest European Union sanctions against the Belarusian regime for its role in the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops date back more than a year.
The Europeans had previously imposed several rounds of sanctions on Minsk for the brutal repression of the demonstrations.
The arrival of Mr. Wagner in Belarus could encourage the adoption of new punitive measures “for example against those who allowed this to happen”, estimates Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa.
For months, EU member states have been negotiating new sanctions against Minsk, without reaching an agreement.
29/06/2023 10:26:44 – Bruxelles (AFP) – © 2023 AFP