Belarus

Lithuania on Friday publicly rebuffed a request from the Belarus General Prosecutor's Office to extradite the opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to the country after a harsh government crackdown followed disputed elections last summer.

Belarus requested Tsikhanouskaya extradition "to face prosecution for crimes against the governing order, public safety and the state." but Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis response to the request was blunt: "We can tell the Belarusian regime that we would rather watch hell freeze over than think about their demands."

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has stated that "Due to safety and security issues that are beyond the IIHF’s control, the IIHF Council confirmed today that the decision to move the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship from Minsk, Belarus is unavoidable."

The president of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier has stated that "for months, the people of Belarus have been courageously and persistently demanding free and fair elections and an end to state violence and repression," and that "they need and they deserve our attention, help and support".

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has threatened demonstrators stating that "if someone touches a military man, he must at least leave without hands". Since Monday, the opposition has been trying to force Lukashenko to resign from office by calling for general strikes.

Airport service workers from Lufthansa Technik have refused to service a Boing 737 plane that belongs to the self-proclaimed president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. They stated that "We, Lufthansa Technik’s activists, do not forget the long tradition of international solidarity and stand side by side with Belarusian workers" and added that "the same Lukashenko that gave the order to shoot at demonstrators in Belarus".

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has announced that Apple has requested that Telegram shuts down three channels that are "used by the people of Belarus to expose the identities of their oppressors". Apple states that violence might be incited because personal details of Belarusian "law enforcers and propagandists" get shared in the channels, according to Durov.

He assumes that the channels will be blocked from iOS devices to avoid a ban from the Apple AppStore.

At a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, the foreign ministers agreed to begin the necessary preparations, as the German Press Agency learned from several diplomats.

Austria's foreign minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) confirmed on Monday that there was a "fundamental consensus" among EU countries to impose "sanctions against individuals directly connected with these chemical weapons" in the Navalny case. No details on possible concrete measures have been given so far. According to Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, the preparation of a sanctions list could take several more weeks.

With the re-election of President Lukashenko, who has been ruling Belarus for 26 years, a protest movement has started. It accuses the head of state of election fraud. The state security forces are trying to stem the demonstrations that have been going on since then by violent means. For the first time, the Belarusian police announced the use of deadly weapons.

Cyprus has withdrawn its veto against the sanctions at the EU summit in Brussels in the night to Friday. According to Council leader Charles Michel, they should come into force immediately.

With the sanctions, the EU wants to put additional pressure on the leadership in Belarus and send a signal of solidarity with the people living there. In the former Soviet republic there have been protests and strikes against Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years, since the presidential election on August 9.

The Foreign Ministry in Belarus stated on Friday that all existing press accreditations of foreign journalists were cancelled. Starting Monday, Journalists are supposed to reapply for accreditation under a new, "streamlined" system.

Belarusian government focus on foreign media organizations follows weeks of critical news coverage of the controversial presidential elections and the disproportionate crackdowns on demonstrations against the longstanding Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko.

"The only possible explanation is that the Belarusian government fears independent media and is using every possible trick to prevent independent reporting," states Deutsche Welle's Editor-in-Chief, Manuela Kasper-Claridge.

Without previous announcement Alexander Lukashenko has been sworn in as president of Belarus for a sixth term.

Thousands of people have moved to protest the move and people have been detained by Belarusian security forces. In addition water cannons have been used in order to disperse the protesting crowds.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Wednesday he had asked the Russian president to supply Belarus with new weapons.

During a visit of the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to Minsk, Lukashenko stated: "I also asked the Russian president to provide certain types of weapons to us. I told him: when you come, we will see what things we need to strengthen in terms of the Union State."

During a visit of Alexandar Lukashenko to Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would grant a loan worth €1.26 billion to Belarus. Putin also supported Lukashenko's initiative to reform Belarus's constitution.

Putin told Lukashenko, at the joint press conference: "I am sure that, considering your political experience, the work in this direction would be organised on the highest possible level."

Russia announced they would also continue the pre-planned joint military drills. At the same time, Putin emphasised that Russian soldiers would "return to their permanent deployment locations" after the routine ends.

For the fifth weekend in a row, protesters took the streets in Belarus against President Alexander Lukashenko under the slogan "We won’t let him sell the country." According to news agencies, at least 100,000 people joined the rally in Minsk, with Police claiming they had detained over 400 people in the city.

The Russian Government has stepped up support, offering to potentially restructure Belarusian debt, and providing banking liquidity. It has also said Russian riot police could be made available if needed.

Lukashenko will meet Vladimir Putin Monday in the Russian resort of Sochi. It will be their first face-to-face encounter since Belarus’s presidential election on August 9.

A prominent opponent of President Alexander Lukashenko has allegedly been seized from the streets of Minsk by masked men in black and taken away in a van.

The Belarusian police have at least arrested 100 people that protested against the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukaschenko. Across the country, tens of thousands of people have gotten to the streets despite warnings by Lukaschenko to join the opposition's pro-democracy protests.

The opposition leader Swetlana Tichanowskaja had called for a "march of unity".

The anti-Lukashenko protests have brought tens of thousands people to the street. Protestors are met with "far more police than during previous protests", so the BBC. Many public areas such as the Independence Square in Minsk are being cordoned off by police. At least 125 people have been arrested so far.

Journalists working for western media outlets had their accreditations removed on Saturday in Belarus. This comes a day after a German ARD TV crew was arrested in their hotel and later deported. Journalists affected worked for Reuters, Radio Liberty, AFP, AP and BBC, among others.

According to the Russian president Vladimir Putin, he has police on standby that can enter Belarus in case "the situation gets out of control" for the president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko who faces protests and strikes all around the country because of election manipulation.

With the first outages in early August, Belarus back then went almost entirely offline for 72 hours. On Wednesday August 26, for approximately one hour, Belarus shut down key parts of the capital’s internet once again; allegedly, the order had come directly from official state bodies.