Help from “Mike” and “Nick”

ORn among the thousands who marched through the Belarusian capital, Minsk, at the weekend in a “women’s march” against dictator Aleksandr Lukashenka, there were two joyful women carrying a red telephone with a headset. One played “Mike” from Warsaw, the second “Nick” from Berlin, and together they mocked Lukashenka’s latest change by wooing Moscow’s support against the protest movement: the recording of an alleged phone call between “Mike” and “Nick” Minsk wants to help Russia dismiss the poisoning of opponent Aleksej Navalnyj found in Germany as false.

Lukashenka had contested the campaign before the presidential elections in early August with Russian threats to Belarus: his main opponents were supposed to be puppets in the hands of the Moscow “puppeteers”, Russian mercenaries who would shed blood in Belarus and who wanted to give a knock. But since Lukashenka has been struggling with the protests of hundreds of thousands of Belarusians against the fraudulent elections and against his government, he has been speaking of Western threats to both countries, describing the protests as controlled by the West and now wants to use the Navalnyj case. to become loyal to President Vladimir Putin and useful to show. Last Thursday, Lukashenka told Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, who had traveled from Moscow, that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s statement that Navalnyj had been poisoned with Novitschok had been falsified. Lukashenka referred to a conversation between Berlin and Warsaw prior to Merkel’s statement, which Belarus had intercepted, and promised to make a recording available to the Russian secret service FSB. Since Friday night, anyone who likes it has been able to see for themselves: Lukashenka’s media published the short one-minute conversation between “Berlin” and “Warsaw”.

Nick: “Everything is going according to plan”

The nicknames of the protagonists, Nick and Mike, may not be typical of the respective countries. But the content of the supposed conversation fits exactly into Lukashenka’s staging. English is spoken, but this is still incomprehensible because the Russian voices have overlapped so strongly. “Mike” asks “Nick” what he’s like. “Everything is going according to plan”, says the supposed Berliner: “The materials for Navalnyj are ready. They will be handed over to the administration of the Chancellor. We are waiting for your explanation ”. The suspected man from Warsaw asks if the poisoning has been confirmed. “Nick” responds, “Listen, Mike, that’s not that important in this case. There is war, and in war all the media are fine. “This is followed by a phrase from” Warsaw “that Lukashenka had already quoted from Mishustin:” Putin must be freed from the desire to stick his nose into Belarusian affairs. ” The best thing to do, continues the man from Warsaw, is to drown Putin “in Russia’s problems, and there are quite a few of them.” Furthermore, “Mike” refers to the Russian regional elections next Sunday, for which, according to Lukashenka, Berlin and Warsaw are “thinking some pettiness,” as Mishustin had put it.

In response to a request from “Berlin”, the recording was followed by a complaint from “Mike” that the situation in Belarus “to be honest, not so good”: “President Lukashenka has proven to be a tough nut to crack. They are professional and organized. Sure, Russia supports them. Officers and military are loyal to the president. The rest in a meeting, not by phone ”. The federal government had already rejected Lukashenka’s statement on Thursday. Even to members and supporters of the protest movement in Belarus and Russia, it was immediately clear that this was a gross forgery. The two Minsk protesters with phones and others particularly scoffed at the ruler’s praise as a “tough nut.”