Belarus leader cites alleged NATO threat to shore up rule

Belarus' authoritarian leer accused NATO on Friday of hatching aggressive plans as he sought to shore up his 26-year rule amid weeks of demonstrations against his reelection in a vote opposition says was rigged.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled 9.5-million nation in Eastern Europe with an iron fist since 1994, blamed West for fomenting demonstrations in Belarus in hopes of turning it into a “bridgehe against Russia.”

“y want to topple this government and replace it with ar one that would ask a foreign country to send troops in support,” he said. “y want our market to sell ir products.”

NATO has rejected previous such claims by Lukashenko. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said this week that Belarusian leer tries to conjure up im of outside forces threatening Belarus as an excuse for his crackdown on opposition, which has seen hundreds of protesters beaten by police.

In dition, idea that Belarus' ailing Soviet-style ecomy would be seen as a beacon for exporters seems to defy current ecomic realities. Protests have been fueled by growing weariness about Lukashenko's rule, his cavalier dismissal of coronavirus pandemic and a bruising ecomic fallout from outbreak in a country where living standards were alrey sinking.

65-year-old Belarusian leer threatened to retaliate against Lithuania, which pushed strongly for European Union's sanctions against his government and hosted main opposition challenger in vote, Sviatlana Tsikhauskaya, who moved re after vote, pressured by Belarusian authorities. He said Belarus would strike back by halting imports via Lithuanian ports.

“Let's us see who will get scared first, we will show m sanctions,” he said. “I have ordered government to divert all tre flows away from Lithuanian ports. y have grown spoiled, and w we will show m ir place.”

Lukashenko has repeatedly sought to cast protests that are demanding his resignation as part of a Western plot against Russia, in a bid to secure Moscow's support.

Russian President Vlimir Putin warned Thursday that he stands rey to send police into Belarus if protests re turn violent but sees such need yet.

wave of protests that came after election officials declared Lukashenko h won a sixth term in a landslide in Aug. 9 presidential election has cast an unprecedented challenge to his rule. Both European Union and United States have said vote was neir free r fair.

A fierce crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in days after vote left nearly 7,000 people detained, hundreds injured by police rubber bullets, stun grenes and beatings and at least three protesters de, sparking massive outr and forcing authorities to back off. Police stopped interfering with demonstrations for next two weeks, but again began dispersing rallies over past days, albeit without violence.

Viasna human rights center said 267 people, including scores of journalists, were detained when police broke up a rally of about 1,500 people on Minsk's main Independence Square on Thursday evening.

Some were released pending ir appearance in court on charges of taking part in an unsanctioned rally. Interior Ministry said 114 detainees were in custody on Friday.

EU has agreed to impose sanctions on up to 20 senior Belarus officials suspected of election fraud and crackdown on protesters and is likely to put Lukashenko on its list at some point, bloc’s foreign ministers said Friday at a meeting in Berlin.

In Vienna, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe offered to mediate between two sides in Belarus, with chairman Edi Rama pledging t to “interfere in internal affairs” but at same time stressing that human rights abuses must end.

Lukashenko has rejected mediation offers from West, dismissing protesters as Western puppets. His main election challenger has fled country for her safety.

On Friday, hundreds of opposition supporters again formed “chains of solidarity" across Minsk as protests entered ir 20th day.

“A peaceful protest is stronger than clubs and fear,” said 30-year-old demonstrator Maxim Zhurkov. “We feel that we are majority, and that means that a breakthrough will come.”

opposition is bracing for ar big rally in Minsk on Sunday. Demonstrations around capital's main square peaked to about 200,000 over past two Sundays, biggest protests country has ever seen.