Archive for May, 2006
May 31st, 2006 by admin
Twenty-two activists of the unregistered youth group Young Front are carrying out hunger strike to protest the harassment and persecution of their friends. It started with seven activists in Salihorsk, Minsk region, and was joined by the activists in Hrodna and Minsk. As of now, a total of 22 young boys and girls are on hunger strike now. Police tried to enter the apartment in Salihorsk where the initial group started it up, and tore down the banner saying ?Hunger strike? from the balcony. The youngsters put on white-red-white flag.
This is a largest hunger strike in the Belarus history. There were few before. In 1996, political prisoners Viachaslau Siuchyk and Jury Khadyka took a several weeks strike in a prison, demanding their freeing from jail. According to one version, they were released on direct orders from Yeltsin. In 2004, three MPs, Valery Fralou, Siarhej Skrabets, and Uladzimer Parfenovich, went on 19 days strike demanding the release of Mikhail Marynich and free elections. This one was more of a joke, because the MPs did nothing else than to? pre-announce the final day of their strike! (So it turned into a political dieting). Mikola Autuchovich, an entrepreneur, held a hunger strike in 2005 for more than 40 days. He achieved a conditional release, then ran away, was re-captured, and went on strike again. In 2005, several youngsters from Zhodina organized a hunger strike similar to the current one. And Skrabets went on a more ?real? hunger strike when was arrested in 2005, in result, he get a relatively mild sentense of ?only? 2.5 years in jail.
This is an act of political desperation, but crackdown may have a negative consequence on the eve of g-8 meeting in Russia.
Be strong, lads?
P.S. Will now the opposition announce the creation of a hunger strike coordinating center? Just kidding.
VW
May 31st, 2006 by uladz
U.S. Ambassador George Krol in yesterday?s interview to ?Interfax? (I guss I?m playing a role of a crazy Babelfish by translating back to English what was probably said in English originally and then translated into Russian):??George Krol: ?Economic sanctions [against Belarus] are not considered by the U.S. government? We never banned Belarusian business from operating in the U.S. and American businesses from operating in Belarus? We only want to make sure that human rights are observed in Belarus. And we do not demand gas, oil, pipelines, 50% of Beltransgaz or other economical benefits.???U.
May 30th, 2006 by VolksWagen
MINSK, May 30 (Itar-Tass) ? A common currency of Belarus and Russia will make the Belarussian economy more efficient, chief of the IMF mission in Belarus and deputy division chief of the IMF European department Balazs Horvath said in Minsk on Tuesday.
Oh, yeah, IMF is not a political body and does not care or understand that ?currency union? has nothing to do with economics but only disquises attempt of political incorporation. Interesting by enough, it was a while since IMF was even heard of in the region after it got completely pissed off with all their failed advises, mishandled loand, and stupid forecasts that seldom had anything to do with free market economics but rather represented attempts to bail out certain incumbents in trouble. I remember in 1992 IMF strongly advised to preserve common Soviet currency after the break-up of the USSR - without giving much of a recipe of how to manage it in a club of 15 nations each striving to achieve independence. Or the 1998 insistence on continuing pegging Russian ruble to dollar that eventually precipitated the financial crash?
Screw IMF. This outdated institution is a disgrace for anyone thinking free market. By supporting quasi-reforms, it gave disastrous and unwarranted publicity to liberal economics. And your blessing to anschluss is not welcome by any means.
VW
May 29th, 2006 by mirritil
There were congresses of two big Belarusian parties (PBPF and UCPB) in last few days. These events are quite important for the country, because, while our political system is multi-party by Constitution, today we have only 17 officially registered parties; and only seven (or about) of them are politically active in some way (some way here in Belarus almost never means involving in legislature body of power, however). PBPF (Conservative Christian Party Belarusian People Front of Zianon Pa?niak) held its meeting on May, 27. Not surprisingly, first of all they re-elected Zianon Pa?niak as their chairman with vote tally 94 ?for?, 2 ?against? (98 %!). Zianon Pa?niak is out of the country for more than 10 years already, and he generally lacks information about processes here, he can?t communicate with usual members of the party, but? If everything continues the same way (and there?s large probability of this), the party could be renamed to ?Party of Zianon Pa?niak fans?, I think. But the resolution of the congress was more interesting than predictable vote. It is available online in Belarusian on PBPF site. The main idea of this document is the same as the main idea of most Pa?niak articles. It could be described briefly like this: ?Belarus is occupied by anti-national puppet powers, which are ruled from Moscow. Luka?enka carries out pro-Moscow politics with aim to destroy Belarusian independence and Belarusian nation. Russia is ruled now by KGB. Belarusian people will be moved to Siberia. Belarusians should fight, and form of fight should be Solidarity. Solidarity leads to national power which could turn things to better side?. Quite interesting point of view, I can say. But that?s not so unusual for those who communicate with PBPF members (especially young ones). Especially interesting it could be in the light of recent news in Russia-Belarus relations (oil-related questions and so on). Another notable moment is address of Zianon Pa?niak, presented on the congress. While I couldn?t find it?s text on PBPF site, I found mention of it by www.belaruspartizan.org. Pa?niak said, that he thinks, that political flash mobs where harmful for Belarus, since by them ?Belarusian democrats are taking revolution aside to appendix?. That?s bright example of Pa?niak lack of understanding of what and how is going here; he even thinks that flash mobs were ruled by Milinkievi??s HQ? Unfortunately, I couldn?t find any report about how the congress went on, how long it was, which questions were raised? And, it?s quite interesting, there was almost no reaction to this event in press or blogs - the only article is analytics of two congresses by naviny.by, which says more about the general politics, than congresses themselves. I can see more and more evidences that PBPF turned to be the most radical and marginal party in Belarusian politics, which never does something constructive, but rises tensions, starts scandals, and complicates the task of Belarusian freedom with every move. May be they want to help Belarus to become free and its own country, but they do it with grace of a bull in a china shop? Last months many young Pa?niak supporters have found their way to the blogosphere. But their activity resulted in ?religion? tag put on their party by fellow bloggers. It is because of unique style of some young PBPFers? discussion conducting. Between each other they discuss politics in terms ?Milinkievi?, Kazulin, parties and their supporters are full crap who wish to sell our beloved country to Moscow; Pa?niak is the only one?. If someone outside tries to engage in discussion, asking whether Milinkievi? really wants to sell Belarus, or whether Pa?niak is really the best choice for Belarus today, they usually attack in masses and then put those unlucky guys in some sort of ?black lists? - either ?fools? one or ?KGB agents? one. Bloggers, who really support freedom and national Belarusian state concept, and even get in prisons for their beliefs, are named ?KGB agents? by some odious bloggers? Of course there are many good and sane people in PBPF lists. And sane and odious persons are on all sides? but Belarusian blogosphere is extremely unbalanced in this question - mostly sane people are on one side, and odious on the other (e.g., ekibaztus mentions that). p.s. It seems information about UCPB congress doesn?t fit in this post.. BM.
May 25th, 2006 by VolksWagen
Alexander Lukashenka finally reacted to the sanctions imposed on his regime by the United States and the European Union: In the yesterday?s annual address to national assembly, he promised that Belarusian air would be closed for the US and Canadian jets. Several weeks ago, these countries did not offer an air corridor for the airjet carrying several Belarusian bureaucrats to Cuba. Other air companies that can be banned include ones from the EU.??Well, what to say? Belarus will forfeit several million dollars revenues it gets for offering these corridors. One will probably have to fly to Belarus through Moscow or possibly Warsaw and then train. It will take only15 to20 more minutes to, say, a plane from Frankfurt to Moscow to make a detour and fly through the Baltics. But if the EU will simply ban Belavia from flying to Europe, it is plain bankrupt. Couple of jets leased specifically for EU flights will be good for nothing. The air market will go to LOT and Lithuanian airwaves, and I would advise these companies to lobby for free transit visas for Belarusian passengers. The truth is: small and isolated nation cannot introduce sanctions against big and giant ones.??Volkswagen
May 25th, 2006 by Iryna
On May 26, a new monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky will be unveiled at the Military Academy of Belarus in Miensk. The monument (more than 3 meters high) is a copy of the former monument in Lubyanka Square in Moscow, near the infamous prison where so many were killed. That statue was removed shortly after the failed coup in August 1991. In the spirit of ?Iron Felix,? it was so well-constructed that it could not be simply torn down ? it took a heavy-duty crane to take it away.??As usual, Belarusian authorities are not original in their thinking and actions. In 2002, Yuri Luzhkov, the Mayor of Moscow and a good friend of Lukashenka, was the first to suggest that the statue of Dzerzhinsky be restored. But while the idea was discussed publicly in Moscow, it was not broadly supported and therefore successfully buried, so to speak. In Miensk, the decision was simply made and implemented by state officials, without asking anybody?s opinion.??Dzerzhinsky was born into a Polish noble family on an estate in Kojdanawa, in today?s western Belarus, then a part of the Russian Empire. He joined the Bolshevik Party in 1917 and was appointed by Lenin to organize the first Soviet secret police force, the Cheka. He openly stated that ?organized terror? was necessary in times of revolution. He also liked to say that ?a member of the KGB should have a cool head, a warm heart, and clean hands.? In the six years following the Bolshevik Revolution, it is believed that about half a million people were executed by such hearts and hands. This Red Terror set the stage for Stalin?s systematic mass repressions.??Dzerzhinsky?s name and image were widely displayed in the Soviet Union and Communist Poland. There is a museum dedicated to him in his birth of place in Belarus. The town where he was born, Kojdanawa, was renamed in Dzyarzhynsk (several cities named after him also exist in Russia and Ukraine).??A statue of Dzerzhinsky and a park named after him already exist in downtown Miensk (next to the KGB Headquarters; yes, in Belarus the secret police is still called the KGB), but that apparently is not enough. The press service of the State Committee of the Border Patrol has informed us that the decision to erect a replica of Lubyanka?s Dzerzhinsky monument has been reached, because ?Dzerzhinsky was born in Belarus and he spent much effort and energy strengthening the frontier troops.? I guess it is not surprising that Belarusian authorities, never very knowledgeable of history, forgot to mention how much effort and energy Dzerzhinsky also spent on killing his own people. In contrast, the Poles had the good sense to get rid of a widely hated monument of Dzerzhinsky in Warsaw in 1989. There are currently no plans to restore it. ??It should come as no surprise that the Lukashenka regime would honor Dzerzhinsky. Throughout his 12 years in power, Lukashenka has paid homage to ?the best? that the Soviet Union had to offer. He does it to feed the nostalgia for Soviet times which his core supporters?older, less educated, rural voters?feel. That is why the KGB is still called the KGB and the leading state newspaper is still ?Soviet Belarus.? In fact, a foreign journalist once called Miensk a ?Soviet theme park.? Perhaps another Dzerzhinsky statute is a nervous response to seeing too many babushkas and pensioners taking part in the March protests.??Lukashenka is trying to get younger generations to develop the same reverence for all things Soviet. In history education, for example, the Soviet era in general and especially the World War II period has received special attention. Terms such as ?totalitarian regime? and ?national and cultural suppression? in regard to the Soviet system disappeared from textbooks on Belarusian history. As Lukashenka?s regime has become more authoritarian, less and less of the school history curriculum is permitted to be critical of other non-democratic regimes and their impact on Belarus and its people. The 2004 version, for example, does not mention Stalin?s repressions during the interwar period when at least 600,000 people living on the territory of Belarus were repressed and more than 250,000 executed.? ?In the last vestige of the Soviet Union, there is no official monument to remember what happened at Kurapaty Forest, outside of Miensk, where tens of thousands of Belarusians were murdered by the NKVD, the successor to the Cheka, but there is now another memorial for one who helped to make what happened at Kurapaty possible. ??Iryna
May 22nd, 2006 by uladz
A popular ?electronica? band Thievery Corporation has released a new single on iTunes ? and the proceeds of the downloads will go to the Chernobyl Children?s Project International. The single appear on a multi-artist compilation CD ?Chernobyl::20? that will be released later this year. The CD will include a booklet of photographs that were taken during missions to Chernobyl regions over the years.??The site of the organization:?* http://www.chernobyl-international.org/??The site of the Chernobyl::22?* http://www.c-20.org/??U.
May 22nd, 2006 by Iryna
After the March and Chernobyl Day demonstrations, it seems that Belarus has once again become a typical quiet state. One should not expect any big street protests in the next couple of months, since it is now the traditional ?dacha? (summer house) period and summer vacations in Belarus tend to be really long. Belarus is still the focus of international attention and is mentioned in the leading media more or less regularly, but now it comes up mostly in connection with the upcoming G-8 Summit rather than generating news on its own. Belarusian authorities have also returned to the old tactics of quiet repression by firing and arresting activists here and there instead of detaining hundreds of people at a time. But despite this apparent lull, the struggle continues and sometimes assumes very strange forms. Several unusual trials?even for Belarus?took place last week in one of Miensk?s courts. We have become used to the fact that prominent academics and journalists are being sentenced to 15 days in prison for swearing or hooliganism, but last week a student was actually tried for sending a text message to another student. The student on trial was one of those young people who suffered from the cold on Kastrychnickaya Square in March. The recipient was a third-year student of the Journalism Department of Belarusian State University and an intern at Belarusian First State TV Channel. The first was protesting for freedom with 500 peers; the latter came up with the brilliant idea of putting empty vodka bottles, porn magazines, and drug syringes in and around the tents for the state TV cameras to document after the tent city defenders were taken into custody by the riot police. It is hard to say whether Denis Balshakou (and his name ought to be added to the EU and US travel ban lists) came up with this idea himself or whether somebody else from certain agencies put it into his head, but he was the one who proudly reported about his achievement while blaming the Western media for inciting an information war at a student conference, held at the Journalism Department shortly after the elections. But instead of applause and recognition, Denis started to receive the following text messages: ?Good job, Deniska! You created a great plot about porn and drugs. Your peers from Akrescina (the prison where most of the arrested where detained) will never forget you.? Although Denis? phone number was available on the Internet, the senders of the messages have been quickly contacted by the police. A police officer who contacted Alesia (the girl on trial) first suggested they should meet somewhere outside of the police station. She refused. A couple of days later she received an official summons?Denis wanted his ?honor and dignity? be protected in the court. He was so sure of himself, the people standing behind him, and the regime he was supporting, that he even didn?t bother to come to court on the trial?s first day. He showed up the next day, without a lawyer and? lost the case. Alesia was acquitted because the judge couldn?t find any unlawful activity. Is such a verdict surprising? Yes and no. Yes, because in the course of the last several months people have been found guilty of the most absurd charges. No, because the Belarusian authorities pretend for some reason that their parody of a legal system still exists in the country, lack creativity, and do not yet know how to adjust laws written in the pre-Internet and pre-sms era, to the regime?s needs in the 21st century. But they are learning. Recently, the authorities have begun checking all commercial Internet sites registered in Belarus, some of which sell, among other items, ?uncensored? literature and music. So, many of these shopping sites are now temporarily ?under repair.? Many link this measure with the new Law on Media, which is expected to be introduced in the ?Palatka? (Belarus? version of a parliament which has no real power and is packed with ?representatives? hand-picked by Lukashenka) very soon. Since it is almost impossible to further tighten control over the traditional media any more, the Internet will be the main target for new regulations. But earlier this year, students have already been banned from accessing certain websites in universities? computer labs and computer intranet networks in dorms were forbidden. The authorities are also working on another new law, which will equate flash mobs with illegal mass gatherings and therefore allow them to fine or detain participants for up to 15 days. Well, laws and regulations can be altered, but I remain a firm believer that this regime will be unable to catch up to the quickness and creativity of free minds. In the past, it was the democratic opposition that responded to Lukashneka?s tactics; today, it is the regime which is reacting, trying to find new methods of repression and to guess what will be the next ?threat.? No longer proactive, it has become reactive. The regime has lost its confidence and its grip. It is shaky. Iryna
May 22nd, 2006 by uladz
The freezing of Lukashenka?s assets in EU countries and boycott of EU countries of the Interpol conference in Minsk, which were the ?big news? last week, went largely unnoticed in the Belarusian blogosphere. Especially, the Interpol conference. I don?t remember seeing a single blog entry about that. Of course, the news about financial sanctions against 36 Belarusian officials did get some attention. Most bloggers speculate though that Lukashenka?s money is probably in Switzerland and Russia, beyon the reach of the EU officials.??The hot topic in the blogs was Palina Smolava (Polina Smolova), and her appearance in Eurovision semifinals. Not only did she fail to enter the final, but she also was placed one place before the last in the semis. This is as bad as it gets. What?s more, Polina Smolova is an avid supporter of Lukashenka. She took an active part in the free propaganda concert tour before the ?elections.? Of course, she got a lot of flak this week. And rightfully so. I felt ashamed that she represents our country in a European music contest.??U.
May 21st, 2006 by VolksWagen
Fareed Zakaria became famous with his book ?The Future of Freedom?, in which he expresses extremely sceptical views on democracy promotion outside of the Western world. His main argument: many people simply prefer autocratic rule over democracy. And autocracy may work for them, whereas democracy brings mess to them, and, moreover, such democracy actually destroys freedom. His arguments have profound negative implications for democracy promotion anywhere, including Belarus. Now, in the latest issue of the ?Newsweek,? he is attacking the U.S. attempts to be critical of the autocratic regimes, such as Putin?s Russia, exactly for the same reasons.?
The Bush administration describes spreading democracy as the lodestar of its foreign policy. It speaks about democracy constantly and has expanded funding for programs associated with it. The administration sees itself as giving voice to the hundreds of millions who are oppressed around the world. And yet the prevailing image of the United States in those lands is not at all as a beacon of liberty. Public sentiment almost everywhere sees the United States as self-interested and arrogant. There is a huge disconnect between what the Bush administration believes it stands for and how it is seen around the world.
?It is amazing how very logical and relevant thoughts may lead sometimes to the fundamentally wrong conclusion. Zacharia is wrong all around in the end, when he suggests that while ?what the world really wants? is not democracy or not just a democracy, there is no point in promoting it. He forgets that public apprehension towards democracy in places like Russia is to a large extent a product of the dictatorial work to impose on the public certain views and attitudes that lead them towards this apprehension. Well, there is such things as democratically-elected dictators, like Putin, Chavez, or Lukashenka. There are no such thing as democratically-governing dictators, though. They all start with destroying independent media and persecuting opponents. Why so, if people are supposedly against democracy and pro-strong hand? Zakaria does not answer but the answer is evident to anyone else: that is become the ?authoritarian public? is also a part of the story. Another part is supressed by the dictatorial rule, and all what Zakaria suggest is that we don?t notice it. I am sorry but this leads us to something like New York Times in the 1930s, when its journalists ?failed? to observe any repression by the Stalinist regimes when travelling to the USSR. Just an example of how Zakaria falls into the same:?
?The truth is that even so, Russia today is a strange mixture of freedom and unfreedom. (The country publishes 90,000 books a year, espousing all political views.)?
?Well, it is the truth to some extent, but he fails to take into account that the ?mixture of freedom and unfreedom? is increasingly (and the pace of increase is alarming indeed) dominated by ?unfreedom?.?There is no longer independent electronic media, but defenders of Putin (like Zakaria) mention that there is a lot of free printed press. The truth is that it has not just been put down by the regime. And books, of course. But Zakaria does not notice that there IS book censorship in Russia and many titles are under ban? With such a logic, Zakaria will probably have to defend his point in couple of years that people in Russia are still not arrested automatically when talking on the streets; then that only 2% of them are in Gulags, and so on.??Exaggeration? Of course. But complacency about dictatorships is what makes exaggerations harsh realities.??But then, does it matter at all? Does it really make any difference whether dictatorships are ?authentic? or just masterfully engineered by the incumbents to make us believe so? For those in the field who is fighting against authoritarian regime, the difference is minimal indeed. They have no choice but to confront the authoritarianism from extremely low position, they have to face not just the repression, but often public resentment, and they will only have a chance to win if they win in the conditions as they are, not just whine all the time like Massachussets liberals.??But for those in the West, there also shall be no difference at all. Zakaria implies that the US democracy promotion in Russia and other places just does not match aspirations of the people on the ground. First, ask yourselves, whose aspirations do you want to match: that is, whether you consider that the ?people? only means genuinely antidemocratic or made so majorities (and they are not always majorities), and you turn backs on those Russians, Venezuelans, Zimbabweans, Belarusians, Cubans, etc., who still brave to express their desire for freedom. Second, dictatorial regimes, even when have popular base, are still dangerous for their own people, for neighboring democracies, and for the West itself. Does it make Akhmadinejad?s nuclear program less menacing because many Iranians supported it. Did the blood of the Chechens genocided by the Russians mean less to you only because most Russians supported the second Chechen war? Does Chavez?s attempt to undermine democracy throughout Latin America is less disgusting and worth being opposed only because many Venezuelans are crazy of Chavez? Or, in perspective, was Milosevic?s genocide in Bosnia and Kosovo anything better just because Serbs used to love Milosevic?????Now, one more Zakaria?s seemingly flawless proposition, when he claims that the US can promote democracy only if it allies itself ?with the aspirations of the people we are trying to help. For many of them, the great struggle going on in so much of the world today is to end civil strife, corruption, extreme poverty and disease, ?, not just democracy but society itself.???Smart, thoughtful? and wrong again, if to remember that authoritarian dictatorships are the ones responsibe in fact for most civil strife, corruption, extreme poverty and disease in the world. This last (but not least) wrong Zakaria?s statement implies one horrendous policy prescription: get off the dictators backs, help them to feed their people: namely, send assistance that will be squandered by corrupt governments and in turn enhance corruption and inequality and civil strife.??Fareed Zakaria is wrong all around. He does understand the flaws of democracy, but he refuses to accept that there is no such things as benign, benevolent, and responsible autocratic regime, which he so much prescribes for most of the Third World. This dangerously puts him on the brink of becoming just another one dictators? apologist.??Volkswagesn
May 20th, 2006 by VolksWagen
So, in the end, the movie will only be shown for two days and then put off the screens. Interesting by enough, much as I predicted, this pissed off quite a lot of people. At least, in the independent online community community.livejournal.com/minsk_by , the info about the movie suspension got most of replys for the day.??I still don?t want to debate the Da Vinci Code, but would like to share one of the remarks that I liked most:???But as for me, I am mre offended by the ?self-elected? [president - VW], so let?s ban him.???Fair enough.??VW
May 18th, 2006 by mirritil
Yesterday trial on Yury Radzivil has begun.?This case is really unusual. I can?t recall another recent case which was so upside down. Yury faces 6 years in prison just for actually being almost killed. The man who has shot few times in his car is now victim in this case, and Yury is accused for driving him over.??Actually, ?victim? is colonel Karpenkou, head of ?Almaz?, special forces police unit. Fellow blogger ekibaztus writes in his post (in Russian) that case was flipped over just because of the very high position of Karpenkou; if he was just a lieutenant, he would be tried. But now? Yury faces 6 years for just being not so far from candidate for president Kozulin on 2nd of March.?This trial is very low covered by western media. Our own media cover it not so much too. Amnesty International called Sasim, who has got 3 months, ?Prisoner of Conscience?; but nothing is heard about Radzivil from them.??Why is it so? May be because Sasim was involved in dissident activity actually, while Radzivil was usual supporter of Kozulin? May be because most of prisoners of last months claim they support Milinkevich, but Radzivil is tried for something that took place on Kozulin action??Yes, it seems to me that people, especially abroad, tend to make difference between those who fight (or just involves) for changes in Belarus. Unfortunately, this could only lead to major splits in anti-regime movement here. Yes, we have some problems about being not so united here; but why authorities, organisations, funds and media, who claim they wish to help our country, put their 5 cents in splitting people here? Why not help anyone who risks his work, education, stability, family, health, freedom, life here for brighter future???We should be united. And we are.??BM
May 17th, 2006 by VolksWagen
As sports had become a focal point of Lukashenka?s endless self-promotion campaign in Belarus, it is also a major instrument in promoting his official ideology. What Lukashenka?s obsession with sports really helped him to was to popularize his official symbols, especially green and red flag that, upon introduction in 1995, was loathed by most youth - weeks after the switch, the central stadium in Minsk was filled for the game against Netherlads, and it was all white-red-white???Time had changed since then. Not only that they simply banned the true national flags from arenas. Sportsmen played, ran, and jumped in red and green for eleven years, victories, disappointments, hopes, and tears began to be associated with these colors. Moreover, the officialdom just planted it everywhere. It is not a secret that they mobilize their Lukamol organization, bureaucrats, ect., to the stadia specifically to show the flags before cameras. Same is for abroad games: sometimes, the technical staff of the teams travels not to help the sportsmen but to wave the flags??
There is one embarassment, though: Lukashenka cannot prevent waving of the banned flag abroad, and wave they do! Every away game, any hockey championship, etc. becomes an opportunity for the adherents of the national to poke them in front of the official TV and Lukashenka faces. This just happened once again during this year?s world hockey championship in Riga.
But now there is something more: while Lukashenka taught Belarusians sports stars to run rounds of honor with this flag and take picture with him (and this flag), he seemingly monopolized them for promotion of his regime, his ideology, and his symbols. Now, this monopoly seems to crumble. First, the forward of the national hockey team Mikhail Grabovski publicly declared that he welcomes the players with both flags: something of a crime for Lukashenka?s propaganda, because white-red-and white flag is firmly associated by it with ?criminal? and ?fascist? opposition. Then, Belarus?s first Olympic champion Romuald Klim greeted ?partiotic fans? who take white-red-and white with them to the events. And last but not least, Belarus? foremost Olympic legend Olga Korbut publishes images of ?true? Belarusian flag on its website and expresses regrets that it was replaceed.
Well done, guys. You voice to support our national treasures is particularly valuable now.
VW
May 17th, 2006 by em
In what some may think is another sign of Belarus trying to get out of Russia?s energy trap, the Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister said that Belarus is to study the prospects of getting oil from Azerbaijan. ??UPI has more: ???Belarus said it will begin studying prospects of supplies of oil and oil products from Azerbaijan. ??Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Kabyakow said after the third session of the Belarusian-Azerbaijani intergovernmental meeting on trade and economic cooperation that the government will consider prospects of getting oil supplies from Azerbaijan given the growing prices for oil and transportation expenses, Belapan news agency reported. ??Oil supplies from Azerbaijan to Belarus ?are a very big and serious reality,? he said????I think this is part of a group of excercises to get more space for negotiating with Moscow. I believe that Lukashenko?s decision to ask Yuschenko to be an intermediary between him and the EU is also a step in that direction rather than a genuine intention to improve relations with Europe???Well, on the other hand, he now can also ask Aliev, the President of Azerbaijan, to be his intermediary in talks with the White House. Aliev was there just a few weeks ago???It?s good we still don?t need intermediaries for China and India. ??EM
May 16th, 2006 by VolksWagen
Well, this blog had already discovered lots of lies and propaganda conducted by the Russian official media to discredit the Belarusian opposition and for the sake of supporting Lukashenka. Our target was primarily Russian Euronews channel, which was bashed thoroughly for its ability to speak like Belarusian official TV while showing a picture filmed by independent reporters. We also discussed a lot how the Russian TV channels support and spread the lies of the officialdom.??Now the new provocation. Several Russian news agencies reported few days ago that about a 100 Belarusian opposition members requested political asylum in Kiev. Among the news agencies who reported it are all familiar faces of pro-Putin spin: Regnum, Utro.ru, Newsru.com, grani.ru, and interfax.??As it turned out, the ?appeal? was a hoax. What actually happened to be that the Belarusian opposition activists, who assembled in Kiev for a congress of participants of the March events, solicited President Yushchenko to offer scholarships to the Belarusian students who were expelled from the universities for political activism. They only informed that public that there is about a 100 people from Belarus in Ukraine who fled from persecution following the March events, and that most of them were NOT going to ask for asylum.?The whole hoax was made in a typical tradition of KGB-Pavlovsky spin. No direct confirmation or quotation that would confirm the request. Side by side with the statement are the quotations of opposition activists who testify how dangerous it is to be an opposition activist in Belarus; that there is a threat of Belarus being absorbed by Russia; and the request to offer scholarships. All meant to incline the reader to believe that the main story is correct. But, no confirmation of the main story. It is like, to show someone on TV testifying how much I dislike someone and then claiming that he is going to gun him down???All what the opposition activists asked in reality was sholarships. That is it. But the official propaganda will now multiply this lies, using confirmation form the ?respectable? news agencies. Oh, wait a second, why only the official propaganda? Actually, some of the ?opposition? web sites, run by the so-called pro-Russian democrats, such as Belarusian Partizan by Pavel Sheremet, and some euramost.org distributed the same information. I hope they did it automatically, just posted the news online. Otherwise, guys, whom are you working for???VW
