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Three presidents and a Belarusian exile: 21 July 2021
Summary
A look back at two political signals from the region in the days around 21 July 2021, one on EU ambitions and one on sanctions.
What did the region's politics look like on 21 July 2021? Two developments from the preceding days set the tone.
On 19 July 2021, Moldovan President Maia Sandu, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili issued a joint statement. In it they announced their intention to have their countries pursue closer relations with the European Union. The move was effectively a rebuke to Russia.
The next day, 20 July 2021, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was in Washington, D.C. There she asked the Biden administration to impose sanctions on companies in Belarus, in order to put pressure on the government of President Alexander Lukashenko.
Together, the two episodes showed leaders in Kyiv, Chisinau, Tbilisi and the Belarusian opposition looking to Western partners as the summer of 2021 went on. The first was a joint declaration of direction from three governments. The second was a specific request for economic pressure on Minsk.
