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The U.S. And Russia Disagree on Belarus Washington Calls Vote Invalid, While Putin Hails Outcome

Posted on: Tuesday, 21 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By C.J. Chivers and Steven Lee Myers

Dan Bilefsky of the International Herald Tribune contributed reporting from Brussels. *

The United States on Monday described the results of a presidential election in Belarus as invalid and called for a new race, even as President Aleksandr Lukashenko defiantly swept aside criticism and declared himself the winner of a third term.

In contrast to the U.S. reaction, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who has also lent visible support to other autocrats decried in the West, sent a telegram congratulating Lukashenko, noting that "Russia and Belarus are joined by the sturdy bonds of friendship."

"I am certain that thanks to our combined efforts we will be able truly to move forward on the path of building our union, and guarantee the onward democratic development of both nations," Putin wrote, according to the Kremlin's press service.

In an impassioned appearance hours after state television exuberantly announced that he had won nearly 83 percent of the votes, Lukashenko exuded confidence, and said the outcome had "convincingly demonstrated who the Belarussians are and who is the master of our house."

He said he was unafraid of further economic and political isolation after an election that international observers described as rigged and conducted in a climate of repression.

His principal opponent, Aleksandr Milinkevich, who received 6 percent of the vote according to the government's initial count, also declared Lukashenko's presidency illegitimate.

"We are simply not going to recognize the election," he said, calling for any new vote to be conducted with new election commissions and a campaign free of arrests and harassment.

Several thousand opposition demonstrators once again ignored warnings that they could be arrested or beaten and returned in the evening to a central square to continue peaceful protests against the results.

But the crowd that appeared on the second night was smaller than the crowd the night before, and Milinkevich's campaign manager, Sergei Kalyakin, acknowledged the difficulties of challenging the deeply entrenched power of Lukashenko, often referred to as Europe's last dictator. "The number who came to the square was not enough," he said. "We need 10 times more."

Unsure that it can muster and maintain large crowds in the face of official threats, the opposition here has rested much of its diminishing hope on international opprobrium over the conduct of the presidential race.

Reaction has thus far broken along familiar lines, with Western organizations and officials issuing condemnations and in some cases vowing to seek punitive measures against Belarus, while Russia and representatives other former Soviet states have celebrated Lukashenko's victory.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which brought 400 observers to Belarus to monitor the vote, sharply criticized the election, noting harassment and arrests of opposition candidates, propagandistic coverage on state media and irregularities in the counting of ballots on election day.

"The arbitrary abuse of state power, obviously designed to protect the incumbent president, went far beyond acceptable practice," the report said.

The Bush administration, citing the European group's report, swiftly condemned the race, saying that it had been conducted "in a climate of fear" and that its outcome should not stand. "The U.S. does not accept the results," said the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan.

Even as the European group issued its report, Lukashenko was several blocks away in a government auditorium, gruffly and at times crudely sweeping aside any questions about his victory or his leadership style.

Between statements of praise and bursts of applause, Lukashenko belittled the opposition's supporters as "children" paid by foreign governments and described their first demonstration, held Sunday night, as a display of weakness.

"They were 14- and 15-year-old children who were paid 20,000 Belarussian rubles," he said, referring to a sum worth a little more than $9. "So they worked for their 20,000 rubles."

When asked whether he could ensure the safety of demonstrators, whom he threatened last week with having their necks wrung, he chided the journalist for posing the question. "I see your neck is in place," he said. "Why are you so concerned?"

As his appearance dragged on, reaching nearly two-and-a-half hours, more denunciations appeared from the West.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, secretary general of NATO, said in a statement that Belarus's citizens had been cheated of a choice. "The people of Belarus have the right to choose their leadership through a true democratic process," he said. "That right was again denied to them." The foreign minister of Austria, Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, criticized the "climate of intimidation" that hindered the opposition campaigning, and said the union was considering options to isolate Belarus's leadership even more than it already is.

The options were not immediately clear. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the union's external relations commissioner, said the EU would continue with democracy-building programs and humanitarian aid and would not impose economic sanctions, since this could hurt the Belarussian people.

In 2005, the EU gave nearly 17 million in such aid to the country. "We have to see if any other measures will be taken," Ferrero-Waldner said. But she said governments in the EU were likely to widen a visa ban on top Belarus officials.

Lukashenko and several of his senior officials are already banned from most travel in the West, in part because of declining relations with the West that followed the previous disappearances of opposition members, and the use of the Belarussian Air Force to shoot down hot air balloons that drifted into the country's airspace several years ago.

Underscoring the widening gap between the West and Russia over the conduct of elections and the state of reform in former Soviet republics, the Kremlin rushed to applaud the result. Its Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "the elections were testament to a high civic awareness and an interest among the Belarussian people for stability."

The statement praising the result made no mention of the mass arrests, wide-scale intimidation and the fawning official media coverage of Lukashenko and his policies. Instead, it added that the campaign "confirmed that the development of democratic institutions and the strengthening of the foundations of civic society in Belarus depends on processes inside the country itself."

Source: International Herald Tribune

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