[ad_1]
“We are forced to take the troops off the streets. As I said, half the army will arm and close the state border with the West, first of all with Lithuania and Poland. “We are forced to strengthen the state border, with great regret, with our fraternal Ukraine,” Lukashenko told a women’s forum on Thursday.
Laurynas Jonavičius, Professor of International Relations and Political Science (VU TSPMI) at Vilnius University, stated that these speeches by A. Lukashenko “seem like desperation”, that they can only seem rational “from the point of view of a completely personal position. from Lukashenko “.
VIDEO: Lukashenko: Belarus “closes” the border with the West, first with Lithuania and Poland
“The fact that when the borders are closed, they are not closed, of course, some procedures may be needed, is probably a sign that those who implement Lukashenko’s decisions are not able to understand when his speeches are real, but when it’s propaganda, public relations. This makes the situation even more complicated, because in general it becomes difficult to predict, predict or prepare for something. ” 15 minutes said L. Jonavičius.
According to the political scientist, Lukashenko’s “detachment from reality as we understand it” is a consequence of the chaos in which anything can happen.
Interior Minister Rita Tamašunienė told BNS on Friday that traffic on the border with Belarus is normal. The Belarusian border guards themselves announced that only “strengthen border protection”.
At an event organized by the Eastern European Studies Center (RESC), Maxim Milta, Director of Communication of the European University of Humanities (EHU), who has been in Minsk since the start of the protests, said that the speeches of Lukashenko were “a statement not based on actual actions.”
“Lukashenko is well aware that this is not feasible from an economic or practical perspective,” he said.
Managed by Cabbage / Photo 15min / Harina Maxima
Milta noted that the Belarusian propaganda media, when covering Lukashenko’s participation in the women’s forum, ignored the statement on the closure of the borders.
And I have a very simple conclusion: it was probably an impromptu statement. <...> Next week, we’ll look at that statement as an even deeper form of self-discrediting.
And the self-discrediting was caused by simple reasons: the regime is desperate, it does not know how to behave, it is trying to use brute force, but the potential of that force is very limited, we can see it perfectly in the hundreds of thousands of marches in Minsk. Sundays. The officers of the power structures attack the protesters only if there are more of them than the protesters, ”said M. Milt at the RESC event.
In Belarus, protests broke out on August 9 after announcing that more than 80 percent of Lukashenko had gathered votes and was reelected president. In the last five Sundays alone, more than 100,000 people have taken to the streets of Minsk. protesters, demonstrations are also taking place in smaller cities.
The regime is trying to quell the protests with violence: around 10,000 have been detained since its inception. people who have come out of isolation report torture.
VIDEO: Detainees in Belarus spoke of incomprehensible cruelty: “You could hear people being beaten outside all night”
Belarusian freelance journalist Hanna Liubakova noted that the Telegram channel linked to Lukashenko’s press service had announced that she had changed her mind at the last minute about participating in a women’s forum, where she had announced the closure of the borders.
“I don’t think it’s well thought out so it can be frivolous,” Liubakova wrote on Twitter.
In August, when Lithuania imposed sanctions on Lukashenko and other regime officials, it threatened to redirect all cargo transported through the port of Klaipeda to other ports. So far, those threats have not materialized.
Designed for internal audiences?
EHU director M. Milta said he thought Lukashenko’s remarks yesterday were for his immediate circle.
According to L. Jonavičius, these statements may pose a threat to neighboring countries and are intended for an internal audience.
First of all, it is an obvious attempt to present alleged Western interference as the main problem that Belarus and Lukashenko have to defend against with the help of Russia. Lukashenko presents himself as a player that Russia needs and that Russia needs to support. And relations with the West have been fundamentally broken, it is impossible to restore them. ” 15 minutes said the political scientist.
According to L. Jonavičius, A. Lukashenko believes that Belarusians who travel to Poland and Lithuania are trained to prepare revolutions here. “It can be a message for the countries themselves,” said a speaker at VU TSPMI.
Lukashenko announced Thursday that he would send “half the army” to strengthen the protection of the western borders. Is a military confrontation on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border likely?
Žygimantas Gedvila / 15min photo / Laurynas Jonavičius
“It just came to our attention then. Because when it is not clear what should be done and what can be done, the possibility of such provocation remains, even accidental. However, the fact that an invasion of the West is planned is completely unreal. <...> There is no need to panic, we have to be prepared and watch. ” 15 minutes said L. Jonavičius.
“Inappropriate statements”
Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius told the LRT that when the Belarusian economy is “on the brink of bankruptcy”, all similar measures must be taken in a measured and responsible manner, as it can backfire.
According to the minister, the statements about the transfer of troops to the borders are worrying.
“There have been statements that half the army has launched to protect the western border, it seems that here something threatens, something is going to attack. This is an inappropriate response from an inappropriate person to the situation, ”L. Linkevičius told LRT.
VIDEO: 15/15: Putin and Lukashenko meet in Russia – in whose hands is the fate of Belarus?
President Gitanas Nausėda called Lukashenko’s statement about the border closure a provocation.
“I think it is a provocation, without a specific reason. The authorities of some countries simply forget that there is a mirror principle in international relations: borders can be closed from both sides,” G. Nausėda said in a press release.
[ad_2]
