On May 16, 2017, the Belarusian opposition movement Havary Pravdu (Tell the Truth) was registered after seven years of unsuccessful attempts to gain official status. It was the seventh attempt to obtain the registration and Tatsyana Karatkevich (Co-Chairwoman) was not sure they would succeed this time. Karatkevich said that when the official handed over the registration papers he also warned the leaders (Andrey Dzmitryeu and herself) not to violate Belarusian laws.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Belarusian President stated that Lithuania and Poland could have been training fighters who were behind provocations in his country.

“The other camps were located in Ukraine (and), it seems to me, in Lithuania or Poland – I won’t insist on this, but somewhere there. The money was coming here via Poland and Lithuania”

Andrey Yegorov, the head of the Belarusian-based European Transformation Center says that by making such statements, Lukashenka is warning protesters not to participate on the protest planned for Saturday 25^th (which could bring thousands of people) and also as a justification for possible repressions including use of force. He also says that the administration is preparing for the day by fueling hysteria in the media about alleged fighters.

According to Yegorov, the protests along with these words by the President are a sign for the Western world to revise its policies of resuming the relations with Belarus.