Lithuania recognizes exiled Tikhanovskaya as leader of Belarus

Exiled former Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has criticized Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for meeting with the “usurper,” a term she has used to describe the country’s president, Alexander Lukashenko.

Tikhanovskaya ran as the most prominent opposition candidate allowed on the ballot. According to the official results, Lukashenko received 80% of the vote.

But Tikhanovskaya says her private opinion polling showed her to be the real winner. She has refused to recognize the election result as legitimate.

Now, Lithuanian MPs have unanimously voted for a resolution to recognize former Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who fled to Lithuania after the disputed election, as the elected leader of her country.

The resolution refers to Tikhanovskaya as the “elected leader” of the country, while Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is called “an illegitimate leader.”

The move comes amid speculation in Western media that an upcoming meeting between Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin may pave the way for the unification of the two countries. Those claims were dismissed by the Kremlin earlier this week

At the same time Lukashenko arrived in the southern Russian city of Sochi for a much-anticipated face-to-face meeting with Putin.

Amid speculation over their true goals, Tikhanovskaya sent a message to the Russian leader that any agreements signed would be void, if she ever comes to power.

Following August’s vote, Tikhanovskaya fled to the Baltic country after pressure from the government, explaining that she had chosen to see her children. Since then, she has campaigned to convince leaders around the world not to recognize Lukashenko as the country’s rightful leader.

After she left for Lithuania, Tikhanovskaya founded the ‘Coordination Council,’ a body whose aim is to ensure an orderly transfer of power from Lukashenko and to a newly elected president.

Lukashenko has called its formation “an attempt to seize power,” and many of the group’s members have therefore been arrested. At the moment a US tank battalion is being transferred to a Lithuania just 15 km from the border with Belarus.

Although the EU refused to accept the outcome of the Belarusian election, Lithuania is the first country to officially recognize Tikhanovskaya as an “elected leader,” immediately prompting comparisons to the US decision to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s interim president in January 2019.

Washington’s lead was soon followed by its allies in the region, with only 50 countries (25% of the world’ nations) ultimately joining the USA in recognizing Zionist puppet Guaido as Venezuela’s “acting president.”

But despite unequivocal support from the US regime and some corrupted allies in Latin America, however Guaido has lost much of his initial momentum since a failed military coup in April of last year.

It’s unclear, however, if Lithuania’s gambit will spark a chain of similar events. So far, the European Union, although threatening sanctions on high-profile Belarusian officials, seems to be leaving the door open for Lukashenko to remain in office.

Germany’s Die Welt newspaper reported last week that Berlin, as well as Paris and Rome, have opposed blacklisting Lukashenko and have united to overrule proposals by the Baltic states and Warsaw to sanction the Belarusian leader.

Mass protests that swept across Belarus in the wake of the presidential election last month continue to grip the country. In an interview with Russian media, it appeared that Lukashenko hinted he might leave office after changes are made to the constitution, while ruling out the possibility he would vacate the post under pressure from “the streets.”

RT. com / ABC Flash Point News 2020.