After more than 250 protesters detained in Minsk, Kremlin says Belarus unrest is ‘internal affair’ & Russia won’t interfere

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has described tensions surrounding the upcoming presidential election in Belarus as an internal matter for Minsk. His comments come after more than 250 were arrested during protests on Tuesday.

“It is an internal affair of Belarus,” Peskov said. “Nothing has changed in our approach in this regard.” He added that “the election is not connected with the Union State” agreement between Moscow and Minsk. The two-decade-old treaty allows citizens of either country the right to reside and work freely within the other.

“We indeed are closer to each other than other countries due to the nature of our Union State. But these elections are a sovereign matter for Belarus and we will not interfere,” he said.

Protestors angry about the registration process for the election took to the streets on Tuesday. Of the seven applicants, five made the ballot paper. Notably, the authorities refused to register the candidacy of banker Viktor Babariko – an opponent of President Alexander Lukashenko – who is under investigation by the KGB due to undeclared income and “foreign funding.” Well known tech entrepreneur and former diplomat Valery Tsepkalo was also denied a place on the ballot papers.

More than 250 people were detained in Belarus during the unauthorized rallies, accused of violations of public order, most of them in the capital itself, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Minsk.

Some of those detained were quickly released, while others were placed in temporary detention facilities. Lukashenko has been president of Belarus since 1994.

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