By Visiting Abkhazia Lukashenka ‘Shot’ Himself In The Head

Experts spoke about the consequences the dictator will have to deal with.

“We have come with good intentions. And if we can help you with something, and this cooperation will be mutually beneficial, and there is a direction for it, we will do it.” With these words, Lukashenka began his unexpected visit to self-proclaimed Abkhazia on September 28. He visited the unrecognized republic for the first time, Belsat reports. Back in 2015, after negotiations in Tbilisi with President Giorgi Margelashvili, Lukashenka stated that Belarus recognizes, quote, “the territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders.” What happened now?

“For Lukashenka, it was probably so necessary to show Moscow: I am with you, I am ready to take any steps that you will like. He said it there. And again, this rhetoric about Putin the older brother. These are all words that should please Russia, and please Putin,” says political commentator Alexander Fridman.

“These two dictators, two tyrants, have chosen the path of provocation of the international community and the path of ignoring all the rules that have been created since the Second World War,” said Sergey Lagodinsky, a member of the European Parliament, sharing his opinion.

Lukashenka made a visit to Sukhumi after a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Sochi, about which he himself spoke at a meeting with the so-called President of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhaniya: “Discussing the problems of Abkhazia with our older brother, with Vladimir Vladimirovich, we discussed these issues a lot, till late at night. He is very immersed, more than me, in the problems and affairs of Abkhazia. We came to one conclusion: that Abkhazia exists, it cannot be erased from the map, no sanctions will be able to do this.”

Lukashenka has not officially recognized the independence of Abkhazia. But his visit to the unrecognized republic is a reason for new sanctions from the European Union, MEP Ryszard Czarnecki believes: “This visit is not only a sign of support for Putin by the Belarusian dictator in his war in Eastern Europe (Ukraine), but also interference in the foreign policy of the South Caucasus. I am sure that the European Union should not remain silent on this very delicate and important issue.”

Now there are many Belarusians in Georgia who were forced to leave their country due to repressions. According to political observer Alexander Fridman, Lukashenka's visit to Sukhumi should not affect political emigrants. And what will be the relationship between official Tbilisi and Minsk?

“If we take the Belarusian-Georgian relations, then this visit will certainly work for the deterioration of these relations. And this concerns the government of Georgia, and especially the population of Georgia, which took this visit of Lukashenka very unpleasantly,” Alexander Fridman believes.

After the Russian-Georgian war of 2008, relations between Lukashenka and Georgia could be called friendly in every sense. For example, in 2012 Mikhail Saakashvili and Aliaksandr Lukashenka watched the final of the European Football Championship together. Not just anywhere, but in Kyiv. In February of this year, the former president of Georgia told a unique story in the Tbilisi City Court: “I secretly met with Lukashenka four times in London. This is the first time I'm talking about this. It was secret diplomacy. The fact that Lukashenka has not yet recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia is the result of my trips to London.”

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili commented on Lukashenka's visit to Abkhazia:

“I cannot help but note just how unacceptable and disturbing what has happened is. This is a very cynical approach when the President of Belarus arrives in Abkhazia in violation of the law “On Occupation”, in violation of all the norms and principles of international law, and also in violation of our supposedly friendly relations. I am very glad that so far I have hesitated and have not signed the appointment of a new Georgian ambassador to Belarus. We must defend our rules, our territory, our principles, and we must demand this from everyone.”

Lukashenka held on to the last. While cornered, he committed what many experts called a self-inflicted headshot. It seems that the Belarusian state media also understand this, which called Lukashenka's trip to Sukhumi just “a visit to the historical places of the northeastern coast of the Black Sea”.