Critics have said Donald Trump’s recent praise of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is “an insult”.
In a post on his Truth Social media platform on Sunday evening, the US president called Lukashenko “highly respected” following the release of 250 political prisoners in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions by Washington.
Trump lauded the efforts of his Belarus envoy John Coale, before adding that Lukashenko, a Vladimir Putin ally frequently described by critics as ‘Europe’s last dictator’, had “gracefully released” over 500 prisoners since May last year.
Trump wrote: “I would like to give my warmest THANK YOU to the President for doing this, and I look forward to being with him at the next Board of Peace meeting! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
Trump has continued to heap praise on a number of key figures in Europe aligned with Putin.
Ahead of crucial elections in April, Trump has said Hungary’s authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is a "truly strong and powerful Leader, with a proven track record of delivering phenomenal results".
The comments contrast some of the less-than-complimentary statements made by Trump about other European leaders, including British PM Sir Keir Starmer, whom Trump said was “no Winston Churchill” following the UK’s response to the war in Iran.
The prisoners included in the deal, meanwhile, were pardoned by Lukashenko after he met with Mr Coale last week. Mr Coale said the release was a “significant humanitarian milestone” and a product of Trump’s “commitment to direct, hard-nosed diplomacy”.
But human rights groups have continued to highlight the reality for political prisoners in Belarus.
Jemimah Steinfeld, CEO of the freedom of speech group Index on Censorship, said Trump’s comments were an “insult”.
She told The Standard: “To call Lukashenka “highly respected”, as Trump did, is therefore an insult. He is not highly respected, nor is he someone who deserves our gratitude. To the contrary. Indignation is the only correct response, not applause. They should never have been in jail.”
Amnesty International welcomed the prisoner release, but said it “must not be mistaken for justice”.
Before 2020, Lukashenko had long attempted to balance relations with the West and close ally Russia.
But a widely disputed election that year sparked mass protests and a major crackdown by the Lukashenko government followed. Protesters, politicians and journalists were jailed on what rights groups say are trumped-up charges.
Minsk-based human rights group Viasna, which aims to provide legal and financial assistance to political prisoners and their families in Belarus, estimates there are currently 910 people considered to be political prisoners in the country. Hundreds are believed to be languishing in penal colonies, where ex-prisoners have reported forced labour, psychological abuse, rotten food and being housed in freezing cells.
As a result of the harsh conditions, “many” prisoners are known to be at risk from weakening health, according to British freedom of expression campaigners Article 19.
Among the prisoners is former Index colleague Andrei Aliaksandrau. Mr Aliaksandrau, a Belarusian journalist, was jailed for 14 years in 2022 for allegedly paying the fines and covering detention costs for protesters.
Ms Steinfeld added: “It is always with mixed emotions that we greet the release of political prisoners in Belarus. Relief that their prison ordeal is over, upset thinking of the time they’ve lost and of the punitive conditions that come with their release.
“Above all we feel anger at a system that is an inverse of justice. Lukashenko has created that system and is the primary beneficiary. Thousands are still in jail, including our former colleague Andrei Aleksandrau - simply for their role in peaceful protest.”
To this day, the UK, EU and United States do not recognise Lukashenko as the Belarusian president.
A thawing of US-Belarus relations could be on the cards, however. After Mr Coale’s trip to Belarus earlier this month, sanctions on Belarus’ development bank Belinvestbank and its finance ministry were eased. The Belarusian potash companies Belaruskali, Belarusian Potash Company, and Agrorozkvit were also removed from sanctions lists entirely, Mr Coale said.
Belarus is still subject to sanctions implemented following Lukashenko’s crackdown and then the country’s cooperation with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Further signs of a possible bettering of relations emerged following Mr Coale’s trip, with reports that the US is considering inviting Lukashenko to the White House. Mr Coale told the Financial Times there was still “a lot of work to get there”.
