Moscow’s increasing pressure on Minsk to hew the pro-Russia line is proving to be counterproductive in three ways: First, it has prompted President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to take on even more independent positions—and owing to what Vladimir Putin is doing, he is not the “last dictator in Europe” any more. Second, Russian pressure is radicalizing national feelings among the Belarusian people, who resent the Kremlin’s assumption that they will passively follow Lukashenka and that Lukashenka will passively follow Putin. And third, it is leading ever more governments in Europe to rethink their approach to Belarus, exploring ways of going beyond the …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation