A huge statue of Lenin reigns supreme in Minsk's Independence Square, guarding the entrance to Government House, a Soviet-era building with hundreds of rectangular windows from which the Republic of Belarus is controlled. Two or three people walk in front of it, some Russian tourists take a few photos, but apart from the soldiers guarding the building, there is not much movement in the square.

In Brussels the tone against Aleksandr Lukashenko's regime in Belarus is getting louder and louder. For months now Poland, Latvia and Lithuania have been warning that thousands of people are being pushed across their borders by the Belarusian regime. However, the situation has worsened in recent days, and the European Union is even clearer that Lukashenko is looking for blackmail after several rounds of sanctions against him and his entourage for having violated democratic principles and human rights in his country. After having accused him of "cynicism" and of "instrumentalising" migrants, on Tuesday the Union has directly described him as a "gangster" because he plays "with people's lives for political purposes".

Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich, who was arrested after the plane in which he was flying was forced to make an emergency landing in Minsk, has appeared by surprise on Monday at a press conference called by the government of Aleksandr Lukashenko to give explanations about the incident. Protasevich, who has been imprisoned for three weeks, appeared alongside four government representatives (two of whom were in uniform) and said he is ready to take responsibility for the crimes he says he committed.