Former Prime Minister of Lithuania: Lukashenka imagines he has caught God by the beard

AP Photo Pavel Bednyakov, Pool

After U.S. Special Envoy for Belarus John Koole called on Lithuania to restore relations with Minsk, former Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė claims that Donald Trump's administration prefers not to notice, in her words, Lukashenka's regime, which operates in an assembly-line manner, reports LRT.

"I think he (Lukashenka) is simply demonstrating power and taking advantage of the fact that, unfortunately, the current U.S. administration does not have as good an understanding of Lukashenka's regime as we do, and is very pleased with these small things Lukashenka does by releasing political prisoners (...). The regime operates on an assembly-line principle. These processes occur according to industrial principles. Now he will release these political prisoners and recruit new ones," said on Friday the representative of the opposition party "Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats".

"The U.S., its current administration, prefers not to see this or doesn't know it, although Mr. Gitanas Nausėda, as reported, explained this very clearly during his meeting with the special envoy," emphasized the politician.

According to her, by establishing contact with the U.S. administration, Lukashenka felt even stronger in relation to neighboring states.

"Mr. Lukashenka now imagines he has caught God by the beard, that he has some kind of bilateral channel with the U.S. administration. And, by resolving issues with the administration, he imagines he can feel like the master of the situation and now has the opportunity to exert pressure on his neighbors, who do not allow him to do certain things — earn dollars or otherwise act outrageously in European countries (...).

Now he has the opportunity to exert pressure because he feels he is in a stronger position. A special envoy arrives, calls on Lithuania to improve relations with Lukashenka, and Lukashenka effectively joins these calls," said Ingrida Šimonytė.

He is simply demonstrating his ability to disrupt various aspects of life and take other actions, as if trying to add arguments why Lithuania should change its political position regarding the Belarusian regime. It is clear that the regime has not changed at all, and the security situation has only worsened during this time (...). Lukashenka believes that now is his moment to shine, as he can reinforce these calls with a certain material basis — and he is doing it very clearly," explained the parliamentarian.

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