Times Have Changed: They Speak The Language Of Force With The Dictator

What are the consequences of closing the border with Poland for the regime?

The Lukashenka regime faced very serious problems despite the fact that new economic sanctions by the West have not been introduced for a long time. This primarily affects the people of the country. The average salary decreased by BYN 418.4 in Minsk compared to December 2022. The catastrophic fall indicates that the Lukashists' economic fantasies have nothing to do with reality. It is worth noting that these figures are given officially, and knowing how accomplices of the regime are able to underestimate the statistics, one can be sure that the real numbers are much higher.

Another problem is the rise of the many goods and services store prices incomparable with paychecks. Some positions more than doubled in price over the year, which negatively affects the purchasing power of the people. For example, a previously well-known cheap imported shampoo of a well-known manufacturer has BYN 3.95 discount price on February 24, 2022. Now the price is BYN 13.96 without a discount.

In addition, political repression caused many specialists to leave the country. This applies especially to IT specialists. This has led to a shortage of skilled personnel, which in turn has a negative impact on the country's economy. The Lukashists, on their last legs, are even begging the Belarusians to return, but there is a question: “How will you pay?”

But it seems that this is not enough for the regime and it is digging its own grave deeper, blocking the way of trade with Europe with its actions. The Lukashists deprived themselves of loopholes for bypassing sanctions and smuggling with this gesture. This has been almost the main source of income recently. The border with Poland is half-closed and a month later, a colossal fall into the economic abyss. The downward trend in trade was intensifying even without border closures. If last year the cargo turnover in Belarus fell by 25.4%, then at the beginning of this year the fall constituted 33% compared to January 2022.

The Lukashenka regime is the obvious contributor to the economic and political problems of Belarus. It is not able to govern the country and brazenly provides its territory for the deployment of troops of the aggressor country, thereby selling sovereignty to cover debts. But times have changed, and the neighbors have finally started to use their language to speak with the dictators - the language of force.

Belarus must move towards democratic governance and take measures to attract investment and qualified personnel in order to get out of the poor economic situation. The restoration of trust in relations with the EU countries will be the beginning of a process of economic growth and improvement in people's lives. None of this is possible having the current regime.

Belarusians want to see their country being democratic and prosperous. They want to see the rule of law, but not the ambitions of a dictator.

Artsiom Chernikau, especially for the Basta Telegram channel