For three weeks the context of Minsk existence changed because of Hockey Championship

photo by minsknews.by

What political context characterizes Ice Hockey Championship? What did the authorities achieve by temporary isolation of prostitutes and the homeless? And why didn’t fan zones resemble the Olympics?

On May 25 the closing ceremony of the Ice Hockey World Championship was held in Minsk. Which benefits and losses did the Championship bring to Belarus? The representatives of the civil society told EuroBelarus Information Service about the pros and cons of the championship.

Valiantsin Stefanovich, Deputy Chairman of the Human Rights Center "Viasna", human rights fighter:

- In this Championship I saw the other side of the coin, which the hockey fans, as well as official authorities didn’t see. But it doesn’t mean that there was no problem.

We noticed that through preventive detentions the authorities, despite their claims that sport and politics are incompatible, politicized the Championship. According to our data, more than 40 people were arrested preventively.

We also got to know about the clean-up operations of the so-called asocial elements – prostitutes, the homeless, alcoholics, - though we don’t know about the scale of the operation. Perhaps, some statistical data will be available later.

Ice Hockey World Championship can be compared with the Olympics 1980, as the goals of the Belarusan authorities and the Soviet authorities back in 1980 are the same: to hold the competition in a non-free country, prevent anti-Soviet demonstrations, and, of course, to demonstrate the foreigners how good is life in the country.

We can’t say that a lot of international tourists regularly visit Belarus. It happens due to a number of reasons, and high visa cost adds to that. Belarusans were really happy to see a lot of guests in their country; however, let me repeat once again that it doesn’t annul the other side of the coin that the human rights fighters were facing. And it is the authorities who bear responsibility for that, as they were organizing repressions against the civil society and clean up operations of the so-called asocial elements.

The actions of the authorities during the Championship revealed the old reoccurring problems in the system, which allows isolating people who don’t deserve it; demonstrated that the repressive mechanism is working fine and can be launched in case of first political necessity, as it may happen before the president election in 2015.

Valery Karbalevich, political analyst and an expert of the analytical centre “Strategy”:

- For breweries, restaurants and hotels Championship was beneficial, while for the residents of houses near the fan zones it wasn’t. Perhaps, the authorities gained some points for their approval rate, mostly in the eyes of the Belarusan society. I think that during this campaign Lukashenka got some extra points, but his effect will soon wear out.

At some point a certain nation-wide enthusiasm happened; people were chanting “Belarus!” and waving flags. For a short period of time all Belarusan society was united.

The drawbacks of the championship was seen by opposition activists, homeless people and prostitutes who were cleaned out beforehand, about which, I think, they were not happy.

From the economic perspective, any large tournament of such kind is disadvantageous; that is why losses from the Championship are bigger than its profit, and lie heavily upon the budget.

Ulad Vialichka, the head of the International Consortium “EuroBelarus”:

- An undoubted benefit for Belarus is the fact that such kind of forum took place in Minsk, and that it became possible to receive such vast number of guests from all the different countries. Of course, for three weeks the context of Minsk existence changed because of Hockey Championship. The ice hockey championship also gave Belarusans the chance to communicate with the representatives of other countries.

It is very important, as Minsk is not used to the vast number of foreigners at the streets. I think that this is our drawback, as foreigners are a typical feature of any modern megalopolis.

The Championship made Minsk feel that foreigners in the city are something normal rather than an extraordinary phenomenon; not an exception, but a rule. This international communication is the main advantage of the Ice Hockey World Championship.

The fact that the championship was held in a country with such political regime arouses a lot of criticism. But with all the totalitarianism of the regime, preventive detentions, political prisoners and the actions of the law enforcement agencies certain processes which would be impossible in other situation did happen and gave our city new opportunities. This is the main positive factor.

The negative side is that the Championship didn’t come to be the reason for change in the policy of the Belarusan authorities: political prisoners were never released, vice versa, preventive arrests and clean up operations happened during the Championship. It was a certain signal that the authorities would do everything possible to prevent potential organizers of protest actions from talking about the Belarus’ problems.

It seems to me that vulgarization of the Championship, i.e. creating the vision of absolute fun with a lot of alcohol is a bad symptom. On the other hand, it was quite expectable, as the Belarusan authorities wanted to use the Championship for the political dividend, and on the whole, they got what they wanted to.

We are sick and tired of talks about the cleanness and order in Minsk; if it is the only thing that we can be proud of, it means that we don’t show or don’t have something we can surprise the foreigners with… Unfortunately, the Championship still has its political context.

I hadn’t been at the Championship, but I was eagerly watching its sporting part on TV. I didn’t have the moral right to be present at the matches because of the position that the independent Belarusan civil society occupies in this regard. It says that the Championship is a certain political action of the Belarusan authorities. And I share the viewpoint of my colleagues.