Staunton, May 10 – Despite his
heavy-handed approach to any and all demonstrations that he and his regime have
not approved in advance, Alyaksandr Lukashenka did not order the dispersal of 1500
Belarusians who marched through the center of Minsk with pro-Moscow banners and
shouting pro-Moscow slogans.
Instead, the Belarusian leader let
it go forward, an indication that he is afraid to offend Moscow and that he has
lost control over the mass consciousness of Belarusians” to what is in fact “a
pro-Russian ‘fifth column’ on the streets of Minsk,” according to Valery
Karbalevich of Radio Liberty’s Belarusian Service (svaboda.org/a/29217727.html).
The marchers, the journalist says,
were “well organized,” had lots of prepared things like George ribbons, pictures
of Lenin and Stalin, and the like. “Young people wore t-shirts with lettering
declaring ‘Army of Russia,’ ‘Donets Peoples Republic,’ ‘Polite People,’ and the
Russian court of arms.”
All of those taking part clearly understood
that what they were doing was designed to put the Lukashenka regime in a
difficult position, Kabalevich says, especially since among those marching were
people closely tied to his own government but clearly in this case at least
completely at odds with it.
Russian media hyped the event, but “the
paradox is that the absolute majority of poeoople who marched with portraits
were certain that they were taking part in an action of ‘the Immortal Regiment’
because they live in a Russian information space and look at the mirror through
the distorted mirror of the federal channels of the Russian Federation.”
They thus felt themselves
unconsciously to be “part of ‘the Russian world’ and this is the most dangerous
thing of all.” The Belarusian authorities
initially banned the march but then a day before it was to occur put out the word
that no action would be taken against it, Karbalevich says. The only
restriction they imposed was to require people pass through metal detectors.
Given that Lukashenka has publicly
stated that he will put down any demonstration he hasn’t approved of it
advance, one is compelled to ask “why?” Many of the answers to this question are disturbing.
First of all, Lukashenka didn’t want
to spoil the holiday; second, he and his regime probably didn’t expect that the
march would be so openly pro-Russian; and third, there were some of his own political
allies present. But it is the fourth reason that is the most important, the
Radio Liberty correspondent says.
It is one thing to crush Belarusian
nationalists; it is quite another to take action against a pro-Russian group,
something that would inevitably create “a definite scandal in relations with
Russia.” But it would also create problems for Lukashenka with his own people “who
also see the world through the prism of Russian television, consider that ‘Crimea
is ours’ and that Russia is the chief support of good in the world, and support
the idea of imperial revanchism.”
Some outlets even suggest that “Putin
in Belarus is much more respected and popular than Lukashenka,” even among
Lukashenka’s own voters. But however
that may be, “the pro-Russian demarche of May 9 represents a serious challenge
for Lukashenka’s regime” because “as long as the authorities don’t control
Belarusian mass consciousness,” there is a problem.
Up to now, many had dismissed the
existence of such a pro-Russian group within Belarus as “only a fact of
sociology.” But this demonstration “showed that the problem has become a political
phenomenon and is being transformed into political action. We clearly saw in the center of the capital a
pro-Russian ‘fifth column.’”
And now “something must be done
about it.”
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