Lukashenko's Personal Defeat

Nikolai Statkevich broke the dictator's scenario by his refusal to leave Belarus.

Alexander Lukashenko commented on the refusal of Nikolai Statkevich to leave the country, saying that he had been "taken to Belarus. At the same time, he did not give any details about the whereabouts of the Belarusian opposition leader and his fate. Why does Lukashenko avoid this information and what is behind his vague formulations? The "Zerkalo" asked political analyst of the news agency "Pozirk" Alexander Klaskovsky about it.

The analyst believes that this shows that the situation with the politician has become problematic and resonant for the authorities.

- The topic hurts Lukashenko, he feels that there is a big resonance. Although no one pulled his tongue. Lukashenko is in a difficult position: on the one hand, he can't deny that Statkevich is in prison, as he hasn't returned home. On the other hand, he doesn't want to talk about it directly," says the analyst.

The expert believes that one of the reasons for such secrecy is the unwillingness to spoil the PR effect of the deal on the release of prisoners. The admission that one of the released prisoners was immediately returned back to the colony completely destroys this image.

Nikoli Statkevich has broken the scenario prepared by the authorities by his refusal to leave Belarus, Klaskovski believes. The analyst believes that this greatly angered Lukashenko, as the beautiful picture for Western partners has been spoiled:

- He is disappointed that the scenario of "active process of establishing relations" with the United States has been spoiled. This was done by a man of character, a stubborn man. He imposed his game. From Lukashenko's point of view, it will be a bad example for others, because then everyone will try to assert their rights.

Analyst is convinced that if the authorities had left Statkevich free in Belarus, Lukashenko would have perceived it as a personal defeat. That's why this option is unacceptable for the authorities. They did not expect such a development of events and counted that by taking Statkevich in a bus with locked doors right to the border, they would leave him no choice.

- Apparently, Lukashenko and KGB head Ivan Tertel decided that everything would go off without a hitch. They thought that they packed political prisoners into buses with locked doors, drove them to Lithuania and where would they go? And here, you see, a man found a way out, just physically dropped the doors and did it his way. They must not have foreseen such actions. That's why they can't forgive," concludes Alexander Klaskovsky.

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