But protesters could resume in the spring, Tikhanovsky said in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Le Temps.
“Admittedly, we have lost the streets, we do not have the opportunity to fight the regime’s violence against protesters – they have weapons, they have power, so, yes, it looks like we have lost at the moment,” she said. “I know that the Belarusians are tired and afraid. But now we are building the structures for tomorrow’s fight.”
Tihanovska points out that work is being done to bring together various different initiatives launched by doctors, teachers and former members of the force.
“Our strategy is to better organize and continue to put constant pressure on the regime until people are ready to take to the streets again – possibly in the spring,” she stresses.
Asked about the recent events in Russia, Tikhanovsky said that the protests in Russia and Belarus only look similar externally, but for different reasons, so cooperation between the protest movements of the two countries is not expected.
“The two movements look similar only from the outside: people take to the streets, where they are brutally detained by the police. I think that is the main, if not the only, similarity,” Tihanovska said. “The goals and context are different. In Russia, they are rallies against corruption. Alexei Navalny is a politician with a long career. We want free elections in our country. I don’t think we need to work together.”
“Unlike Belarus, Russia has not yet reached the point where a return is not possible,” Tikhanovsky continues. “Nothing extraordinary has happened, there is still room for the movement to mature and develop.
Although we don’t like the tone of the word, in our case it is a peaceful revolution. “
On August 9, 2020, presidential elections were held in Belarus, in which the country’s sixth term was officially won by the country’s autocratic leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years. However, the Belarusian opposition and many Western countries do not recognize the election results, pointing to widespread falsification and disqualification. Extensive protests erupted in Belarus after the elections.
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