Belarus can choose its own path

In Belarus, mass protests against the manipulated election of President Alexander Lukashenko have been brutally suppressed and the country's courts have sentenced just under 600 government opponents to between five and fifteen days behind bars in summary proceedings. However the country must be allowed to follow its own path, writes the national conservative daily Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze: "The voters have expressed their trust in Lukashenko and he has made it clear that there will be no Orange Revolution in Minsk. Whatever the case, Belarus is our neighbour and we share not only a long border but also a joint power grid and depend on each other: Belarus needs our ports and we need the Belarusian transit goods. ... We must accept that each nation chooses its own path. And we must be honest with ourselves: The Latvian model is not ideal and therefore we can't impose it on others. Before we start preaching to others we must ourselves be convinced that everyone feels secure and well looked after in our own system."

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