Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Belarus Opposition Calls on West to Reaffirm Country's Territorial Integrity

Jamie Dettmer

   Belarus opposition figures are urging Western governments to
   collectively make it clear to the Kremlin that Russia must avoid a
   military intervention to save Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.
   They want Western nations to announce their readiness to stand by the
   Budapest Memorandum, an international protocol signed in 1994
   guaranteeing the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Belarus.
   In a video interview with VOA and other news outlets, Valery Tsepkalo,
   a former diplomat, and one of Lukashenko's main electoral rivals until
   forced into exile, says the West should immediately recognize Sviatlana
   Tsikhanouskaya as the legitimate ruler of the country--in the same way
   it recognized last year Juan Guaido in Venezuela as the legitimate
   ruler after declaring Nicolas Maduro's presidency illegitimate.
   The 55-year-old Tsepkalo, who served for five years as ambassador to
   United States, says Tsikhanouskaya is "seen in the mind of every person
   in the Republic of Belarus" as the real winner of this month's
   election. Tsepkalo fled Belarus before the poll, after being
   disqualified from standing. He feared he'd be imprisoned or that his
   children might be abducted.

.