The First Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction in the State Duma Sergei Ivanenko thinks that the victory of Alexander Lukashenko at presidential elections in Belarus will not strengthen the union between Russia and Belarus.

On Monday, September 10, 2001, Ivanenko told journalists that the recent actions of the president of Belarus had been dictated by his “fight for power, and he has been putting these interests above the interests of the Russian-Byelorussian union”.

Ivanenko also thinks that Moscow adopted in relation to the elections in Belarus “Pontius Pilate’s position - “I am washing my hands of this.” According to Ivanenko, this is a “strategically wrong position”. He noted that Moscow hadin fact supported the present president of Belarus proceeding from the “idea that he will win anyway”.

Ivanenko also expressed his concern over the policies “that have recently been conducted in Belarus and have now begun in Russia”. According to Ivanenko, this concerns the attitude of the authorities to the opposition, which has been seen “not as an opposition to the authorities, but as an enemy to the people”.

Based on Interfax reports.