To my mind, the political situation in Belarus vastly depends on the interplay of various actors, such as the EU, neighboring states, mass media, and citizens. From my point of view, sanctions against Belarus are not really effective and can even be harmful to the Belarus population. They only act as a trigger for Lukashenko to make his policy even tougher, which reflects on the people’s lives. I agree with the Director of the Eastern Europe Studies Center, Linas Kojala, who said that the balance when expanding the sanctions should be kept and they should not affect ordinary people. (Poland In, 2021). However, I think that it is impossible because political leaders have a lot of power and finance to get everything they need, while the people suffer. Thus, the role of the neighboring states in this situation is controversial. On the one hand, they demonstrate their position on the issues of legitimacy of Lukashenko’s power, at the same time trying to “make the regime pay for its defiance of international and human rights law” (DW News, 2021, 2:53), but it does not really help the people of Belarus. However, the sanctions can force people to go to the streets and protest against their leader.
Mass media and the Internet play a big role in this conflict, as they, on the one hand, become the instruments of propaganda, and on the other hand, they help the citizens to unite against their president. Thus, this is an information war, which seems to be lost by Lukashenko, as people are getting very frustrated and are ready to fight for their freedom. I hope that they succeed, and Belarus will become a peaceful country again.
References
Poland In. (2021). European Parliament’s resolution on Belarus – World news guest – L. Kojala. YouTube. Web.
DW News (2021). Belarus ‘hijacking’: EU leaders discuss punitive measures against Lukashenko. YouTube. Web.