Interfax-Zapad agency stops working in Belarus | Major political events in Belarus: assessments, forecasts, comments

The Interfax-Zapad news agency, the founder and owner of which is Interfax, has ceased its work in connection with the amendments made to the law on the mass media of Belarus in May 2021. This was announced on Friday, December 31st, on the agency’s website.

The amendments presuppose that in Belarus a foreign legal entity, foreign citizen or stateless person cannot act as a founder of a media outlet. In the case of Interfax-Zapad, we are talking about the Russian founder.

On the Belarusian media market since 1994

Interfax-Zapad recalled that “they have been working in the Belarusian media market since 1994”.

“Since January 1, we have to say goodbye so as not to violate the legal field of the Republic of Belarus,” they added, wishing the former subscribers of “honest news”.

Blocking DW in Belarus

The ruler of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed a law that amends the legislation on the media on May 24, 2021. In particular, it stated that the relevant measures are aimed “at minimizing foreign influence on the Belarusian information market.” The main provisions of the law came into force on June 24.

According to experts, by the summer of 2021, the regime of Alexander Lukashenko had liquidated almost all independent media in the country. At the end of October, the website of the Deutsche Welle (DW) media company was also blocked in Belarus.

See also:

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Leader of Democratic Belarus
Exactly a year ago, a housewife from Gomel, a former English teacher Svetlana Tikhanovskaya announced her intention to participate in the presidential campaign in Belarus. On May 15, 2020, she submitted instead of and, as she herself repeatedly emphasized, for the sake of her husband, documents for registration with the CEC – and by coincidence she became the leader of the democratic forces. How she spent a year in this role – in the DW photo gallery.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Collection of signatures for Tikhanovskaya
Initially, her husband, the author of the YouTube channel “Country for Life” Sergei Tikhanovsky, planned to run for the presidency of Belarus. But he was denied registration, and at the end of May he was detained and is still in jail. Not least because of the popularity of her husband and solidarity with him throughout Belarus, there were huge queues at pickets to collect signatures for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Single candidate from the opposition
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya announced anonymous threats against her and her children with a demand to stop participating in the election race, but decided not to give up. On July 14, the CEC issued her a certificate. In fact, she became the single opposition candidate. Lukashenka’s other strong rivals, Viktor Babariko and Valery Tsepkalo, were denied registration. In total, five candidates were allowed to participate in the elections.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Consolidation of headquarters
Viktor Babariko was detained, Valery Tsepkalo had to go abroad because of the persecution. On July 16, the coordinator of Babariko’s headquarters, Maria Kolesnikova, Valery Tsepkalo’s wife Veronika and Svetlana Tikhanovskaya announced a joint effort. The women’s trio has become the face of the campaign for fair elections in Belarus. Its members urged people to go to vote, become observers and fight fraud.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Three graces as a symbol of peaceful change
The campaign rallies of the joint headquarters gathered thousands of Belarusians throughout the country. On July 30, according to various estimates, up to 70 thousand people attended the official picket of Tikhanovskaya in the Minsk Peoples’ Friendship Park. Her campaign promises were to hold re-elections with the participation of all alternative candidates, a referendum on the return of the 1994 constitution, and the release of political prisoners.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Unrecognized election results
On August 10, the CEC announced Lukashenka’s victory in the presidential elections – for the sixth time. Tikhanovskaya, according to official data, won 10.1% of the vote, while Lukashenka – 80.1%. According to the opposition and many citizens of Belarus, the voting results were massively falsified. They were not recognized in the West.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Post-election protests
Tikhanovskaya’s supporters and analysts believe that in fact she, at least, made it to the second round and even, perhaps, won the election in the first round. Protests against falsification of voting results, which erupted in Belarus immediately after the elections, do not stop to this day, although by the spring they had already lost their popularity due to repressions by the Belarusian authorities.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Forced emigration
Under pressure from the authorities, on the night of August 11, Tihanovskaya was forced to leave for Lithuania. “God forbid to be faced with such a choice that I faced,” she said in a video message. Now Svetlana lives in Vilnius – under the protection of the Lithuanian state. The Belarusian authorities are seeking her extradition and accused of terrorism. Her team emphasizes that Tikhanovskaya supports peaceful methods.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
For dialogue with international mediation
The way out of the political crisis in Belarus is in the dialogue between the authorities and the opposition and the holding of new elections, Tikhanovskaya said. Now her team is creating the prerequisites for this. In March, a vote for internationally mediated negotiations was launched on the Golos platform. The initiative was supported by over 770 thousand people. To this end, the work of the Opposition Coordination Council is also supported.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
At a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel
The need for dialogue in Belarus is one of the main topics at international conferences and meetings of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya with the heads of Western states and governments. Her team is also establishing international contacts to provide humanitarian aid to Belarusians who suffered from repression and economic support to the country after the new elections – a kind of “Marshall plan for Belarus”.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Attention to torture in Belarus
Sanctions against high-ranking officials guilty of violence against civilians, as well as assistance from the international community in documenting torture in Belarus and prosecuting security officials are other key areas in the work of Tikhanovskaya’s headquarters. Lawsuits against the Belarusian security forces are being considered in Lithuania, Poland and the Czech Republic. A corresponding claim was filed with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
Sakharov Prize “For Freedom of Thought”
In December 2020, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was awarded the Sakharov Prize “For Freedom of Thought”. In addition to her, the European Parliament awarded this award to Svetlana Aleksievich, Maria Kolesnikova, Veronica Tsepkalo, Ales Bialiatski, Stepan Putilo and other activists of the united Belarusian opposition. “Freedom is a victory over fear,” Tikhanovskaya said at the award ceremony in Brussels.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
At a meeting with the diaspora in Rome
Meetings with the diaspora, support for the People’s Embassies, which inform the world community about the situation in Belarus, contacts with those who continue to protest in Belarus – Tikhanovskaya calls herself a leader elected by the Belarusian people. Bloomberg has included her in the top 50 most influential people of 2020. And no matter how people treat it, the history of modern Belarus is already unthinkable without it.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus
New image of a leader
During this difficult, eventful year, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has significantly changed in appearance and as a politician. And it’s not just a new hairstyle. She began to dress more stylishly, behave more confidently, sound more competent, without losing her naturalness and warmth. Among world leaders, she looks on equal terms, and ordinary Belarusians perceive her as “theirs” – this is her uniqueness.
Author: Yanina Moroz