Andrei Yahorau: "Frustrated and without leaders"

The irrationality of the Belarusan situation bewilders. None of the participants of the political conflict could benefit from the severe crackdown of the protests on the election day and the subsequent reprisals. In a few hours, the Belarusan authorities have lost the credit of trust of the European Union, which they have been earning during the latest two years. The opposition, civil society, and the independent mass media have once again become victims of the senseless retaliatory actions of the law enforcement bodies and special services. The whole EU policy of adjusting a dialogue with the Belarusan regime is being questioned now, and the EU is forced to return to the policy of sanctions. Common citizens of the country, both those who took part in the rally on December 19th and a lot of casual bystanders, have been exposed to beatings, tortures, and the treatment which humiliates human dignity. The Belarusan nation has been raped in the most fatuous and inhumane way. It is possible to guess that the management of Russia has received certain benefits from the aggravation of the Belarusan-European relations and achieved Lukashenka’s bigger pliability. Still, even in this case, the received results seem to be rather dingy.

Probably, it is necessary to accept the unwisdom of the general political situation in Belarus as an entity; however, this very situation has developed as an overlap of results of quite rational strategies of its participants. The distortions and welter take place due to the divarication of the political space into the real space of politics and its media image. What we see on the screen of the mass media is a deformed image which is sometimes opposite to reality. In the Belarusan situation, especially for an external observer, it is difficult to distinguish the real things from fictitious ones, real political actions from their imitation. However, it is this very complicated combination that creates the crotchety configuration of Belarusan politics.