Pundit: Łukašenka’s regime complicit in Russian takeover of Belarus
Mark Feygin and Vitaly Portnikov (right)
January 5, Pozirk. Gradual massive Russification of Belarus and its Sovietization by [Alaksandar] Łukašenka’s puppet regime, especially after 2020, are threatening Belarusian statehood, said Ukrainian political expert Vitaly Portnikov.
The Belarusian state will cease to exist as a result of these policies while Russians will assimilate Belarusians, he told Ukraine’s Feygin Live show.
Belarus cannot be considered a sovereign state despite still having formal statehood attributes, he noted, comparing its actual status to that of a Russian region. It may be even “less sovereign than the Chechen Republic [as Ramzan] Kadyrov has more opportunities than Łukašenka,” Portnikov said.
Russian leaders want to treat Ukraine in the same way, he added, referring to Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine in which the Belarusian authorities supported the Kremlin.
Russification ruining Belarus' cultural independence – pundit
March 24, Pozirk. Alaksandar Łukašenka and his officials keep waging war against the Belarusian civil society, Pavieł Barkoŭski of the opposition transition cabinet has told participants of the 3rd Conference of the Belarusian Diaspora in Prague. Reprisals against artists continue, …