Belarus is in turmoil after the Aug. 9 election, when the country’s 65-year-old leader Alexander Lukashenko, president for the past 26 years, claimed to have won with more than 80 percent of the vote. Opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, 37, contested the election results and thousands of Belarusians have protested the disputed election. The European Union and the United States have also stated their concerns that the elections were “not free and fair.”
Toal, Gerard; John O'Loughlin & Kristin M. Bakke (2020) What’s driving the Belarus protests?, Washington Post, Monkey Cage. 21 August.