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West and Dazhynki festival

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West and Dazhynki festival

Foreign guests come to visit Belarus more often.

The dictator is happy. He hasn't received so many foreign guests for 20 years. And what guests! Each of European politicians, analysts, journalists and other visitors who have come to Belarus in the past few months earlier severely criticised Lukashenka and his regime and did it repeatedly and principally. Their strong statements and evaluations had grounds and helped in some way to defend and even to save lives of people who find the regime unbearable.

What has happened? Has the regime changed? Have political prisoners been released? Has repression declined? Has an opportunity of honest elections appeared in Belarus? Has pressure on media decreased? No, no and no.

Europe has just returned to its usual policy of “appeasing” dictators on the excuse of the situation in Ukraine. Ukraine, which, you see, wants to Europe, sticks in Europe's craw and makes it spoil relations with Russia. Yanukovych was not a bad guy in general, and talks with him were heart-to-heart. He didn't want much, only money, unlike these ones who want weapons. Well, it failed with Yanukovych, who nearly became a reformist. So, let's try Lukashenka again. Correcting dictators is Europe's full-time job.

Baroness Ashton, who visited Minsk in late August 2014 ahead of the dictator's birthday, was the first to open a pilgrimage to Belarus. It was the Ashton who swore after 19 December 2010 that no high-level contacts with the Lukashenka regime were possible. You cannot deny the talent of Europeans. It is smart: Ashton was to leave her post as EU High Representative shortly, and the outgoing politician can forget her previous principled statements. Moreover, there was a good excuse – peaceful talks. It didn't matter that the venue for the talks was chosen by the Kremlin and their aim was to continue aggression rather than find a peaceful solution. The main thing was to say that the goal was high and worth visiting a petty dictator.

Later, even a European leader, German Chancellor, visited the country, which one couldn't imagine before. Again, the honourable goal of the visit was peaceful talks, which again were held by the decision of the Kremlin.

The latest who visited Belarus was a delegation of prominent European analysts and politicians. The visit, which was organised with the support of European MFAs, included meetings with illegitimate officials involved in crimes against their own people. Even the blocking of independent websites was suspended for them to be resumed after they leave the country.

The European Council on Foreign Relations came to look into the situation. They called it a “study tour” as if they haven't studied the regime for the last 20 years and haven't understood its sense and a scale of repression. Oh yes, the geopolitical situation has changed. We need all means to resist Russia.

The most effective tool of fighting against Russia is, of course, helping pro-Russian dictator Lukashenka rather than Ukraine. He didn't recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia and wants to be a mediator in Ukraine talks though he supported the annexation of Crimea.

If we follow this logic, the next study tour should be to North Korea, which also neither recognised Ossetia and Abkhazia, but approved the annexation. It also has amysterious regime that has to be studied.

It's embarassing to tell respectful European experts and politicians that we already saw the same flirting with the West and that the dictator's role of a “mediator” has just one goal: to make the West give him money to keep his regime, ruthless to country citizens and kind to the West's loans. It happens not only with the consent of the Kremlin but also with its support. The Kremlin needs to lead the war with Ukraine, wanting to tear it into pieces, and doesn't have money for its friendly dictators.

Lukashenka has huge economic problems. Exports fell 30%. The country desperately needs money. The regime can survive only if it gets loans from the West, first of all from the IMF. It was the IMF loan that saved the dictatorship in 2010, after the so called “liberalisation” that ended with bloody crackdown on the Square. During the “liberalisation”, experts and politicians visited the country, and famous journalists interviewed the dictator.

That “liberalisation” was launched by then EU High Representative Javier Solana. Politicians were clever and said they knew what to do. As a result, huge money was given to the regime, while opposition and civil society didn't receive even moral support.

Old methods of begging for loans are being used now. If the price is money, it is possible to speak about the leading role of the US in the world. Americans might not remember racist abuses of their president.

Head of the Belarusian National Bank earlier said in an attempt to move the IMF to pity that reforms were impossible because the country needed to maintain kolkhozes. This time they have new arguments: “Why don't you want to issue us a loan? Angela Merkel doesn't mind. Even Carl Bildt visited us, the one from Twitter, who earlier stated that Lukashenka's days were numbered. And president Francois Hollande…”

Europe has finally begun to draw attention to Putin's lobbyists who have influential positions in politics, analytical studies and press. They began to speak about business links between these lobbyists and the Kremlin regime, trying to show their true colours. Maybe, a serious strategy on Russia will appear. At least, ties with the Kremlin dictatorship will painfully damage the reputation of Europeans. It is dangerous to have talks with dictator Putin, but talks with Lukashenka, who turned the country into a testing ground for Kremlin, are possible, as well as lobbying him in Europe. One only needs to call lobbying “looking for a peaceful solution” or “study tour”.

Lukashenka once invented a holiday – harvest festival Dazhynki. It has nothing in common with the folk tradition of celebrating the end of harvesting season. It is organised to entertain the dictator and his stooges by the most ridiculous Soviet canons: they paint houses in a hurry, pave wet roads with asphalt, order farmers to put on the same suits and preventively jail all unreliable people. The festival ends, and the paint comes off, potholes again appear on roads and large sums of money, which were stolen, are declared missing. People don't visit the Dazhynki festival voluntary. People come there by order. Everything is strict. All know how Dazhynki festivals end but participate in them obediently.

Lukashenka couldn't even dream that his Dazhynki would be an international event, and people from foreign countries would visit it voluntary though they know that wet roads are paved with asphalt and that such trips have no relation to democracy and European values.

It would be possible to ignore such visits if it weren't for their consequences, which are catastrophic for Belarus.

Each “liberalisation” organised by the dictatorship and supported by Europeans ends with deaths of our friends and family members and the growing number of political prisoners. Each “liberalisation” ruines lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

Each “liberalisation” saves the regime that hangs by a hair and separates Belarus from Europe.

Andrei Sannikov, leader of European Belarus civil campaign, specially for charter97.org

Photo: ECFR Wider Europe

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