Its better to be a dictator than gay
'Better a dictator than gay,' Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko says
BERLIN -- Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian president of Belarus, on Sunday criticized EU politicians who have threatened him with sanctions and in an apparent riposte to the German foreign minister's branding him "Europe's last dictator," said: "Better to be a dictator than gay."
Guido Westerwelle is Germany's first openly gay minister.
European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels on Friday called for new measures to pressure the Belarus president over alleged human rights abuses.
In spite of Lukashenko's charge -- which seemed an apparent riposte to Westerwelle -- the German foreign minister said on Monday he would not flinch from seeking to enhance human rights in Belarus.
Westerwelle responded on Monday: "This statement speaks for itself." He added: "I'm not going to retreat from my engagement on human rights and democracy in Belarus one a single millimeter."
Chancellor Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert also criticised Lukashenko's comments on Monday.
"Unfortunately (the comment
Dictator’s cynical game
Writing this ‘Spotlight on Europe’ column every fortnight is a scarce luxury. It allows me to reflect on anything interesting about Europe these days. In our media environment, in which foreign affairs barely feature beyond the big geopolitical stories, this is almost unheard of.
So, let me stretch the mandate of this column to write about one of the smallest European countries: Lithuania. Despite its size – and through no fault of its own – the Baltic republic could suddenly find itself at the centre of the next big European crisis.
For months, a conflict on Lithuania’s border has been simmering, and now it threatens to escalate. What is happening there is bizarre. Except, when you hold a neighbour like Belarus, everything is possible.
Belarus is systematically flying in refugees from Iraq and other Asian countries. Once in the capital Minsk, they are put on buses and taken straight to places somewhere along the kilometres-long Belarusian-Lithuanian border. The refugees are then told to cross the border illegally and enter Lithuanian – and thus EU – terr
'Europe's last dictator' is fighting for power. These women are trying to transport him down
President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron fist in a political reign stretching 26 years and counting.
But on Sunday, the hardline former soldier faces his first serious political contest from a surprise challenger.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the wife of a disqualified opposition candidate, has become the unlikely face of political reform in Belarus.
She&#x;s helped motivate large crowds to defy government crackdowns while voicing their fury at the country's swelling economic crisis and handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the help building behind Ms Tikhanovskaya, independent observers are doubtful she can ultimately win control in an election they believe is likely to be manipulated.
‘Europe’s Last Dictator’
A former farm manager, Mr Lukashenko won a landslide election in to become the first elected president of Belarus.
In the years since his rule has become increasingly authoritarian.
Alleg
'Better a dictator than gay’
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has criticized EU politicians who have threatened further sanctions against the state, with an apparent reposte to German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.
In his comments, delivered while attending a ski event, Lukashenko condemned both Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and Westerwelle for spearheading a diplomatic offensive against Minsk. He also delivered a personal broadside against Westerwelle, Berlin's first openly gay minister.
"One lives in Warsaw and the other in Berlin," Lukashenko said. "The second was complaining about a dictatorship. When I heard that, I thought to myself that it is better to be a dictator than gay."
The comment came after EU members on Friday called for fresh measures to pressure the Belarus president, in might since , over alleged human rights abuses.
EU voices deepening fears
At a summit in Brussels, EU leaders expressed "serious and deepening concern" over Minsk's crackdown on civil society.
EU nations agreed last Wednesday to temporarily withdraw