Why Did Lukashenka ‘Get Sick’ With Spy Mania?

The political scientist believes that this symptom may indicate a weakening of the regime.

A real spy mania has begun in Belarus. Literally every week some “spy groups” from Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic countries are detained in our country. There were thirty people in the last group.

What does this symptom say about the Lukashenka regime? The Charter97.org website talked about this with Grigorij Mesežnikov, a Slovak political scientist and president of the Institute for Public Problems (IVO) (Bratislava).

— This is a phenomenon that is typical for dictatorial regimes. Especially when they feel that they can lose support, their positions are weakened and it is necessary to find an internal or external “enemy” who is allegedly trying to undermine this regime. This is a common feature.

In addition, dictator Lukashenka has now agreed with Russia on the transfer of tactical nuclear weapons. The regime's rhetoric is anti-Western, primarily in relation to NATO member countries. Lukashenka accuses them, among other things, of trying to overthrow him.

This is essentially such a propaganda trick in order to somehow justify its rhetoric towards neighboring countries, Ukraine, which is now fighting Russian aggression. So they are justifying themselves by such reports of found “agents”, “spies”.

Again, spy mania is typical for dictatorial regimes. This was practiced in the USSR and other countries with non-democratic regimes. In general, there is nothing surprising about this. Unfortunately, this can also be used to “tighten the screws”, looking for local alleged agents or those who help the “spies”. This is another evidence of the regime’s repressive nature.

— Why does the regime need to search for an external “enemy”?

— First of all, to justify close cooperation with the Russian aggressor. After all, Russia also calls the countries of the West “enemies”, entering into a confrontation with the West. Lukashenka serves the Russian Federation in this.

— Does Lukashenka still have room for maneuver in this “alliance”?

— I don't think he has much room for maneuver. First, he is illegitimate. He is not recognized in the world, except for a very small number of some isolated dictatorial regimes. Western countries do not recognize Lukashenka as head of state.

The closer the alliance with Russia, the less room is left for some kind of political maneuver. In fact, he is done. From the point of view of international recognition, he’s a complete zero.

Belarus as a state is, of course, an important factor, but I think that the West will treat Belarus even harder, given that the regime has become, one might say, the closest ally of Russia in this region, if not the closest of all countries. Lukashenka is already perceived simply as an agent and executor of orders from the Kremlin.

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