Andrei Sannikov: Putin Loses In Every Direction

What are the Kremlin’s plans?

On December 13 in Brest, Medvedev suggested to introduce the Russian ruble in Belarus, alongside with the common customs, courts and the audit system.

The website Charter97.org asked leader of the European Belarus civil campaign Andrei Sannikov to comment upon the statement of the Russian PM:

- Actually, this is a quite serious statement that needs to be considered as seriously. medvedev’s statement manifests that Russia continues its policy of subjugating Belarus, down to the possible incorporation. That is why there are statements about integration, “union state” and so on. It is worth noting that Lukashenka brought the country to such a situation. The lack of economic, political, social reforms in the country, as well as the continuation of the policy of retaining power, makes Belarus an easy target for the Kremlin.

- Today, Lukashenka answered the questions of the Russian journalists and there was no convincing response to Medvedev’s suggestions from him. He said it was necessary to follow the old agreement on the “Union State”. Does it mean he will be moving in this direction? How can the events develop, in your opinion?

- What happened today is illustrative. This testifies not even about stupidity, but about some recklessness of the current government. In an attempt to defend himself against the Kremlin, Lukashenka appealed to the Kremlin journalists. This is significant because he continues to suppress the press - independent media in Belarus have practically disappeared, and the pro-government press works only in the propaganda mode, and the dictator himself understands that this is not his defense. This is a tool for fooling the population, which already does not even work in this regard. Therefore, such an absurd situation has occurred. This is a desperate attempt to defend himself, which will lead nowhere, and create more danger to the independence of Belarus.

The Kremlin has serious plans. Especially now, when Putin loses in all directions. He makes totally ineffective decisions that drive Russia into a more global isolation. He needs at least some victory.

The Russian ruler has put off the relations with Belarus and personal relations with Lukashenka, but he will try to resolve all this next year. This threatens both Lukashenka himself, and the independence of Belarus.

- What should the people who care about the destiny of Belarus do in this regard?

- They need to understand what is going on. They need to demand from the authorities fullfillment of the international obligations, protection of sovereignty, and this can be achieved only through the conduct of free elections, when all the forces of Belarus will unite for the defense of its independence. Then it will be possible to overcome the political and economic crisis quite quickly.

- We were speaking about the Belarus-Russia line. How should this signal be perceived by the representatives of the Western countries, and how should they react?

- They need to finally admit the bankruptcy of their policy towards Belarus. Not only with regard to to Belarus, but also with regard to all authoritarian and dictatorial regimes. It is impossible to achieve anything through the strengthening of relations with dictators and authoritarian regimes. Only by supporting democratic transformations and the forces that pursue these transformations in such countries, it will be possible to acieve positive results. Also, in terms of the international European security.

It should be recognized that Europe and the West have achieved nothing with the help of Lukashenka. They will not create any barrier to the Kremlin policy on their borders. They will create even greater tension and danger at their borders. It is clear that the situation in our country does not really bother them, but they are concerned about their own security and their own borders. This is what they should pay attention to.