Lukashenko released only 25 political prisoners instead of the several hundred expected by the US
Kyiv • UNN
After talks with the US, Belarus released 25 political prisoners. Washington had expected 200–300 people to be released and continues to seek a larger-scale move.
In Belarus, after a new round of talks with the United States, 25 political prisoners were released, although before the meeting the American side had expected a much larger group—around 200–300 people. Negotiations between Washington and Minsk have been ongoing for more than a year, but this time their result was more modest than previously expected, UNN writes, citing Carnegie Politika.
Details
U.S. Special Envoy to the President for Belarus John Coale arrived in Minsk on September 15 after an approximately six-month pause in negotiations. It was reported beforehand that he planned to seek the release of 200–300 political prisoners.
In the end, Minsk agreed to release 25 people. In exchange, the United States announced the lifting of sanctions on two Belarusian enterprises—Lakokraska and Bellesbumprom.
Why the negotiations stalled
As noted by Artyom Shraibman, a visiting expert at the Carnegie Berlin Center for the Study of Russia and Eurasia, one of the problems for Minsk was that the previous easing of U.S. sanctions did not produce the economic effect expected by the Belarusian authorities.
In particular, Minsk hoped that Washington’s steps would prompt the European Union and countries neighboring Belarus to similarly ease their sanctions. However, this did not happen, making further bargaining between the sides more difficult.
At the same time, the negotiating process has not stopped. After the latest meeting, Coale said that the United States expects to secure the release of hundreds of people in the near future.
According to Reuters, despite a series of releases, hundreds of people whom human rights defenders recognize as political prisoners remain in Belarusian prisons. At the same time, human rights organizations continue to report new cases of politically motivated persecution.