Belarus on Sunday approved a new constitution in a referendum that revokes the country’s non-nuclear state status. The approval comes as the country becomes a base of operations for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army in its invasion of Ukraine.
GVsource† Belgium, De Telegraaf
Russian news agencies quoted the Central Election Commission of Belarus as saying that 65.2 percent of voters voted in favor of the new constitution. The result was not surprising, given that President Alexander Lukashenko rules Belarus very aggressively, allowing little opposition to his policies.
The new constitution allows for nuclear weapons to be placed in Belarus for the first time since the country abandoned them after the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Lukashenko warned the West on Sunday: “If I place nuclear weapons in Poland or Lithuania, along our borders, I will turn to Putin and ask him to return the nuclear weapons I gave him without any conditions.”
The constitutional amendment aims to enable Lukashenko, who has ruled in force since 1994, to extend his term and guarantee lifelong immunity from prosecution after his eventual withdrawal from politics.
