Kremlin Papers On Annexation Of Belarus By 2030 Declassified

Journalists from the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Independent, Delfi and other prominent new agencies took part it this investigation.

Journalists got access to an internal document of the Russian authorities called "Strategic Goals of the Russian Federation in Belarus". According to this document, Russia is going to occupy Belarus by 2030. A joint group of journalists from the Süddeutsche Zeitung, WDR, NDR, Yahoo News, Delfi Eesti, Dossier Center, Expressen, Independent, Frontstory, Belarusian Investigation Center and VSquare were involved in the investigation, according to Novaya Gazeta.

The document is dated the summer of 2021 and consists of 17 pages. It lists the political, defence, trade and social goals of the Russian authorities in Belarus. They are divided into three categories: short-term (until 2022), medium-term (until 2025) and long-term (2030).

The journalists say that the document covers everything related to the unification of two countries. For example, it reads that the reform of the Constitution, which was adopted in Belarus in February 2022, should be completed in accordance with Russian interests, and the laws of the country should be “harmonized” with the laws of the Russian Federation.

Another goal is "to ensure the predominant influence of the Russian Federation in the field of social policy, trade, economy, science, education and culture."

In addition, the Russian authorities are going to simplify the procedure for issuing Russian passports to Belarusian citizens “in order to create a layer of Russians interested in integration and business circles focused on the Russian market”. They used such a strategy in South Ossetia, Abkhazia, as well as in the occupied parts of Ukraine. Also, they are planning to open platforms for passing the Uniform State Exam by 2030.

External experts who have also examined the document consider it real. “In its external form, the document resembles a standard document of the Russian bureaucracy or political administration,” said Martin Krag, deputy director of the Stockholm Center for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS).

The journalists showed the document to representatives of Western intelligence services and they expressed the same opinion in this regard. “The contents of the document are absolutely plausible and consistent with what we are also seeing,” an unnamed intelligence official commented.

“Russia's goals in relation to Belarus are the same as in relation to Ukraine. Only in Belarus does it rely on coercion rather than war. Its ultimate goal is still mass incorporation,” said Michael Carpenter, US Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.