At his swearing-in ceremony Friday, Belarusian President Alexander
Lukashenko rejected calls for economic reforms, shattering hopes for a
liberalization inspired by the release of political prisoners and a
rapprochement with the West.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994, was
elected for his fifth term in office last month in a vote boycotted by
the opposition but mildly welcomed by international observers.
The Belarusian president, once dubbed Europe's last dictator, has
skillfully maneuvered between Russia and the West since Russia annexed
Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in March 2014. He has not recognized the
annexation and has sought to act as a peacemaker, brokering talks
between Ukraine, Russia and Russia-backed separatist rebels fighting in
eastern Ukraine.
The European Union last week suspended sanctions
against Belarus following the government's decision to release political
prisoners. But Lukashenko on Friday slammed the painful free market
reforms that neighboring Russia and Ukraine conducted in the 1990s as
erroneous policies that could provoke a "revolution or a civil war."
"Too many people talk about structural reform these
days but nobody has mentioned what these reforms are," Lukashenko said
Friday. "This would mean smashing the political system, the entire
government of Belarus, in pieces, divide and give away state, people's
property."
Lukashenko has largely preserved his nation's
state-controlled, Soviet-type economy, which has been surviving thanks
to cheap Russian gas and Western loans. Thanks to state support and
subsidies, it still puts the bread on the table for pensioners and
workers at unprofitable, unmodernized factories.
About 80 percent of the country's economy is in
government hands, and the under-development of private businesses has
been named as a serious impediment to Belarus' economic growth.
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