“It is just a question of time when the current regime will be forced to sit to the table or leave the country because of the poor state of the economy. And the will of the nation will force them to do it,” says Aleś Alachnovič, economic advisor of the Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
From 2014, the economic growth in Belarus has been very low, almost 0 % on average. The recession has been only intensified by the ongoing protests. If there is no dialogue between the political elite and the society, the countries' economic conditions will further decline.
Belarusians want to live in a democratic country and these massive protests show that people are ready for change. Almost 20 000 people have been detained and the situation has not stabilized yet, highlights Alachnovič. The International Coalition for Democratic Renewal, one of the Forum 2000 Foundation project has released a statement earlier this week, in which it calls for the international solidarity with the people of Belarus. The appeal has been already signed by dozens of personalities from the international intellectual community including Agnieszka Holland, Mario Vargas Llosa and Alina Mungiu-Pippidi. You can read the full statement here.
The interview was recorded on November 10, 2020.
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