Lukashenka Burning Last Boat
- RUSLAN SHOSHYN, BELSAT
- 28.07.2022, 10:41
The dictator's motives are not clear and his actions are chaotic.
Over the past two years, the regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka has taken a number of steps towards the complete destruction of relations with Poland. And it's worth noting that Minsk has been doing this only of its own volition, deliberately provoking tensions. First, the security services completely strangled the Union of Poles (ZPB) and threw its leaders (Anzhalika Borys and Andrzej Poczobut) behind bars, knowing that nothing outrages the Polish political elite and public opinion so much as repression of the Polish minority. Some of the activists went abroad, some were brought to the border and forced to leave the country. There was and still is no threat to the regime from the activities of the Polish minority; it is a purely social, cultural organization, with rather apolitical members. By throwing the Poles under the repression, Lukashenka only stimulated the interest of the Polish media and society in the Belarusian issue, the people demanded from the authorities in Warsaw more sanctions and restrictions in relation to the neighbouring dictatorship. However, the latter did not stop.
The storming of the Polish border and the migration crisis began, which could put an end to relations between Minsk and Warsaw. Poland is building a wall on the border, one of the biggest border crossings at Kuznica is still not working. Restricted trade ties, unprecedented sanctions imposed, and after the start of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the EU restricted access to the European market for Belarusian (and Russian) transportation companies.
It seemed that all the red lines had already been crossed, except for the armed conflict on the border with Poland. In the meantime, Lukashenka has turned his attention to the Polish cemetery and memorial sites. Destroying monuments and leveling the eternal resting places of Polish soldiers of the Armia Krajowa (and not only) have nothing to do with history. How could the people who have been gradually implementing the policy of Russification of Belarus, closing Belarusian schools and universities and systematically integrating the country with the "Russian World", be interested in their own history? The purpose of this barbarism is to finally destroy Polish-Belarusian relations, possibly leading the situation up to the suspension or even destruction of diplomatic relations. It is also obvious that certain forces want to provoke a conflict between the Belarusians and the Poles. Especially the Belarusians living in Poland. The Volyn tragedy (recognized as genocide in Poland) was often used even before the war by the Russian propaganda and the Kremlin trolls, who used every opportunity to stir up emotions in the network. And it is hard to imagine that the issue of Armia Krajowa appeared in Belarus without the help of "experts" of the eastern neighbour.
It is also interesting that this is not just a cemetery for Poland, but a part of the national memory and a place that unites the Polish minority in Belarus. Acting de facto in the underground, Poles commemorate their ancestral sites and celebrate national Polish holidays (All Saints' Day on November 1st, Independence Day on November 11th or the Day of the Polish Army on August 15th). Under the dictatorship, when cultural events and meetings in public places cannot be held legally, the care of a cemetery was one of the main activities for the Polish minority. And today, the regime is taking away these people's right to commemoration.
The motives of the dictatorship are not clear here, as well as other chaotic actions of Minsk in recent years (the plane with Pratasevich, for example, after which the regime reminded the international community of itself). Lukashenka's boats, connecting him with the outside world, and above all with its closest western neighbour Poland, have been completely burnt to the Kremlin's advantage, especially in time of war. Today, Poland plays a decisive role for the region, and the outcome of the war in Ukraine depends to a large extent on Poland's engagement. And here Putin needs to be 100% sure that in the event of a critical situation for Russia, the West will not support Lukashenka, even if he asks for it. And the more barbaric the regime in Minsk behaves, the more it will depend on Moscow.
Watching the dictator crushing the monuments in the cemetery of the Polish soldiers in Hrodna region with a bulldozer, no conscious Polish politician will really shake hands with Lukashenka, let alone make any kind of deal with him. And regardless of who is in charge of this process in Belarus and whether the dictator does it consciously or not, he has already crossed the border and struck where one cannot strike. Not even in time of war. After all, for Poles the cemetery is a holy place, they are not long forgotten here.
Ruslan Shoshyn, Belsat