let's not forget that before he became a "dissident" he was a darling of the US "on the road to peace" in Afghanistan
you are kinda right lol, except Transnistria is not recognized as an independent state
Exactly. For all the problems I have with Lukashenka, at least he's preventing the country from turning into another Ukraine.
Molchat Doma are more popular abroad! I dig them.
Seems like a chauvinist prick, but I imagine his western reputation as an iron fisted dictator has more to do with the government he heads refusing to sell out to or be subverted by the west.
I agree with you on both accounts here. My changed opinions are based on the pragmatic assessment of the geopolitical situation Belarus finds herself in. I used to be an idealist, and now am a materialist. The pro-western opposition's economic program is privatization and "optimization" (firing people) of state-owned industries as well as healthcare. That's not Lukashenka's program. Currently 40% of the country's budget is spent on social programs: pensions, free education, almost free healthcare etc. Also, after the news about his assassination plot by some opposition leaders (super overblown, but whatever) he signed a law that mandates that in case of his demise or departure power will co to the Security Council, which consists of pro-Lukashenka people, a kind of "collective president," so whatever you think of him (I'm not a big fan myself) this was a smart move that shows he cares about the country continuing its' current course (which I do, overall, support). So, on the one hand, he has a lot of power, doesn't even mind calling himself a dictator, but on the other there are mechanisms now for its transfer. Just not to those western stooges.
I don't know much about him except that, like Bykav (prolly one of the most famous Belarusian writers) he at some point turned from a pro-Soviet guy into a pro-Western guy, and that the pro-Western opposition likes him.
Lukashenka is Belarusian spelling. Lukashenko--Russian. So both are correct, since both languages are official state languages.
The govt has recovered from the last year's protests and is stable now, that's why they can afford such moves. About support, it's hard to tell. The election results gave him 87% I think, which is too high. But the opposition's claim that there are only 3% of Belarusian supporting him is blatant propaganda, which became evident from the protests' waning turnout. Like everywhere, most ppl are apolitical, in Belarus even more so maybe. If there was a twitter poll in which every Belarisian participated, I'd say somewhere between about 55 and 65% would chose him, but this is just a guess.
Re policies, 40% of the state budget is spent on social programs, and whatever people say, the country has grown and developed, albeit pretty slowly, since he assumed power in 1994.
there's something very romantic about "dissidentship"; everyone loves the underdog
the EU doesn't give a shit about "hijacking," what they are afraid of is what the dude will reveal about the Western sponsorship of the opposition, hence all the hysteria
Yes, it's a mess. Lukashenka shouldn't be thought of as some sort of Castro, but pragmatically speaking, right now, he is a better choice than whatever the pro-Western opposition has been advocating. There are very few "true leftists" in Belarus, and they aren't organized at all, so they are not a real force, at least for now.
Russia has an enormous influence over Belarus: economic, political, cultural (in that order). No doubt about that. But it's still for the most part a friendly, or "brotherly" relationship, as Lavrov emphasized yesterday. There is no vassalage, and in fact Lukashenka has been annoying Russia periodically by trying to "sit on two chairs": playing footsie with Europe (less an less these days as we can see) to put some pressure on Russia sometimes (and, conversely, putting pressure on the EU by playing footsie with Russia). One Russian politician said yesterday that the plane thing was actually a liability for Russia, for example. And at least in some way it is, as some Western politicians renewed their attacks on the Nord Stream 2 project (Germany needs it first and foremost most, Russia only second, by the way).
not explicitly, most people just don't know the history and are not neo-nazis, re that flag. but there is a bigger problem now. there are people that are so anti-Soviet that they begin to consider the nazis as liberators. not so much in Belarus yet, but very much in Ukraine.
the flag they identify with (white-red-white) is ambiguous, but Nazi collaborators went under it too under the occupation during WW2
I'm speculating about the NED (although there was this prank call that happened recently , a convo between NED people and the pranksters pretending to be Tikhanouskaya, that tells me I'm not entirely wrong), but generally these opposition leaders are being treated as very disposable by the west, and there is also a lot of infighting among them for money because of that (there are rumours that this Protasevich got betrayed by his own).
yep :) it's the most USSR country left after the collapse of the USSR
As much as I hate it, that is pretty much my take too. But Lukashenkas's days are numbered as well, Russia isn't happy with him anymore. So I don't know what the long term holds for the country. It's really sad, all of it.
:heart decoration:
Are you people assuming that Belarus is like Cuba or something? That it would never arrest a Marxist? Because let me tell you Lukashenka will be as happy to arrest true communists, neoliberal shills, and just stupid liberals. This is not about Marxism. You are obsessing too much about this one guy.
So are you saying you think the state would not detain Marxists? Because they would.
a president's plane is technically that president's country's sovereign territory. so there's actually no parity between that and what happened in Belarus. the former incident is much much more outrageous