"Lukashenko's Regime Risks Falling Victim To Its Own Propaganda"
- 14.07.2026, 8:05
Will the “Uzbek project” be successful?
At a recent meeting between Alexander Lukashenko and the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the Belarusian leader invited our country to work. He also stated that even more Uzbeks are expected than Pakistanis.
Will this idea be successful? Political commentator Alexander Friedman discusses this, writes "Solidarnast".
“Looking at the situation as a whole, there’s a need for labor because the demographic situation in Belarus is, to put it mildly, not the best. On top of that, migration from Belarus continues, and I don’t think this process will stop,” says Friedman in a new podcast on his channel.
Alexander Friedman
Under current conditions, there are two options for addressing the labor shortage. The first is to rely on artificial intelligence. In some sectors, especially in manufacturing, this actually works. Belarus is not a leader in the field of AI, so the available option is to attract foreign workers from countries that (at least in theory) are willing to send their citizens to work in Belarus.
Last year, Lukashenko spoke of bringing in 150,000 Pakistanis, but that project came to nothing. Now, the Uzbek project is on the agenda. The population there is growing, and it is young. But the job market there is not in great shape.
For Uzbekistan, sending people to Belarus would be beneficial because it would ease social tensions. Typically, people move abroad, earn money, and send it back home or invest it there. The state usually benefits from this.
But if you look at what Lukashenko has said, it looks different. The emphasis is on attracting people with families and those in the agricultural sector. I think this is deliberate, because attracting large numbers of people to cities could potentially fuel conflict between locals and newcomers.
That’s why there were few specifics regarding the Uzbek project, but Lukashenko and his propaganda machine immediately tried to dispel people’s “worst” fears—that many Uzbeks would now arrive to work in the cities, and so on.
Moreover, the Lukashenko regime risks becoming a victim of its own propaganda here—they spread so many horror stories about migration in Western Europe and the U.S. and portray migration itself in such a negative light that, whether you like it or not, when you create a negative image of migration and then rely on migration, you run the risk of triggering unpleasant emotions among the population.
That’s why they emphasize that the people coming will be families who will live in rural areas. Another question is how these people will be integrated—whether there will be language courses and so on. At the same time, there was a lot of talk about Pakistan as well, but no mass influx occurred. Perhaps the project with Uzbekistan will turn out to be nothing more than a pipe dream.
And here’s how a columnist views Russian citizens moving to our country:
— This trend has been around for a long time among Russians. For many, this is a path to Europe—they live in a familiar society that speaks a language they understand. But still, they live in a more pleasant atmosphere, judging by the reviews. Since it’s not the poorest people who are moving here, they’re buying real estate in Belarus and starting businesses.
The Belarusian authorities will only help them in this, because they have an economic interest in it. As for Russia, this is a way to further colonize Belarus and further tie it to the Russian Federation. I think this trend will continue.