Former Director of Public Relations at Lukashenko: Europe is very lucky

Aliaksandr Feduta, who worked on the presidential campaign, claims that the miracle happened when Lukashenko addressed nearly four thousand people gathered at Gomel Stadium, according to autonews.com.

“It just came to our knowledge then. When he took off his jacket after the speech, the shirt was soaked down to the last thread. Then a miracle happened, because people believed in him, they began to put their hands on him to touch him. There were those who they wanted him to sign on his passport or on a hundred-dollar bill. “At that time, the average salary in Belarus was about thirty dollars,” Feduta told Euronews.

According to Feduta, Lukashenko at the time “was the most talented populist of all.” A man who listened to other people and, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, spoke of the need for security.

Belarus lived in deep poverty in 1994, with privatization processes in major state-owned companies that threatened to leave many people unemployed, explains Feduta, and Lukashenko promised “to punish those who stole their jobs.”

“I am neither with the left nor with the right. I am with those who need to be protected from scammers and thieves, “Lukashenko told The New York Times during his first year as president.

And then he stopped listening …

“It just came to our knowledge then. They just listened to what the people wanted and formulated their electoral program accordingly. He was a great listener, but the elected began to abuse his power, ceasing to listen to others. Now you can no longer understand. why people don’t love him anymore. He still believes that people still need what they needed in 1994. They don’t understand, or don’t want to understand, that life has changed, “says A. Feduta.

While lamenting the collapse of the collapsed Soviet Union, Feduta argues that Lukashenko has never been as ideological as people considered him to be.

He also did not understand the concept of freedom because he thought that under former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, people had a lot of freedom, but that did not lift them out of poverty.

“According to Lukashenko, people need a job, a salary, an understanding that the government will take care of them and protect them. People’s perceptions have changed, but the president remains the same,” says A. Feduta.

Lukashenko has not resigned from the presidency of Belarus since his victory in the 1994 elections, but his belief that he is a president who listens to the needs of the people has long faded. This is evidenced by the protests that began after his supposed victory by a wide margin in the last presidential elections in the country.

Withdrawal of Feduta

After Lukashenko’s victory in the 1994 presidential elections, Feduta became head of the political and public information department of the Belarusian presidential administration.

However, Lukashenko has even decided on two occasions on his own to silence the media without first consulting his communications director. There were considerable scandals and it was not long before Feduta left.

He changed the fields almost instantly, joined the opposition, and such cardinal changes were driven by the perception that “A. Lukashenko is becoming more and more authoritarian and consolidating more and more power over himself. “

In hindsight, Feduta admits that he recognizes some signs that Lukashenko will become what he has become, but that was not so obvious at the time. The former Belarusian president’s partner now remembers an important thing: how Lukashenko feared things he did not understand.

“He never understood the West, so he was afraid of them. He thought that everyone needed someone to take responsibility for everything. There was no way he could understand who in the West was responsible for everything. For example, he couldn’t understand why the United States needed to talk to the smaller members of NATO. And it was everywhere and always; if they didn’t understand something, they would start to fear it. Lukashenko, as we see it now, was already in it. What we accepted as his strength was really cruelty, ”says Feduta.

Love, family and public relations

As A. Feduta now says, “A. Lukashenko does not understand what love is. “

“He doesn’t understand things so basic that if a woman doesn’t love you anymore, she will have to break up with her. You do not imagine such things, so I fear how you will react to what is happening in Belarus. He is responding with violence, “the former head of public relations for the Belarusian president said in an interview.

Feduta emphasizes that in this case he is not speaking directly and was not referring to any specific Lukashenko affair, but recalls that the President of Belarus turned to British public relations guru Timothy Bell, who later became Lord Bell, for help. to improve your image in the public eye. . Around this time, Lukashenko began taking his youngest son everywhere. Feduta recalls a conversation with Lukashenko’s former security officer, who explained that this was Bell’s idea.

“I had to contact one of his security guards, he no longer works there. He revealed that this was the advice of the British public relations: well, make people see that the president of Belarus can love someone. But then it became clear that to show your love, it is not necessary to take the child abroad together ”, recalls A. Feduta.

Heart of stone?

Lukashenko, just elected president in 1994, paid an official visit to Uzbekistan. He wanted to visit President Islam Karimov, and it was decided to meet the new Belarusian leader with an impressive dance of young dancers dressed in national clothes.

“It was December, there was snow everywhere and those young women dressed in national costumes were cold outside. For a moment, the mayor of the city approached me and asked if he could ask Lukashenko to stop the show because the dancer was freezing. I gave the request to the president, but he continued to sit nailed for another good fifteen minutes. Even seeing the dancer exploring from the cold in front of his eyes, he stayed. When we left, we saw everyone trying to warm up the girls caught in a goat’s horn, ”recalls A. Feduta about Lukashenko’s cruelty.

When asked if European leaders were underestimating Lukashenko, Feduta replied: “Europe is very lucky not to rule Russia.”