Belarus Balks at Russian Airbase

On October 4, several hundred people gathered in Minsk to protest a proposed Russian air base on Belarusian soil. The protesters were galvanized by Mikalay Statkevich, a former Belarusian presidential candidate, who stated that the new installation would be used to deploy attacks on Ukraine and alienate Belarus from NATO. When Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his support for the creation of the air base in mid-September, he did not expect much opposition. However, current Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko denied any plans to create a new military installation, stating, “There has never been any talk about deploying a Russian air base on Belarusian territory.”

The protests notably came just a week before Belarus’ presidential elections, which Lukashenko, labeled by The Economist as “Europe’s last dictator,” has won continuously since 1994. Lukashenko’s denial that an air base was in the works came during a period of openness before elections where the President released some political prisoners. Despite the protests and criticisms of his regime, Lukashenko was re-elected as president for his 5th term last Sunday with 83.5 percent of the vote.