Alexander Khara: Lukashenka Regime Is No Better Than Putin Regime

Ukraine continues to discuss the vote of the official delegation of Belarus against the UN resolution on Crimea.

The expert of Maidan of Foreign Affairs Alexander Khara commented on the situation in an interview with Hromadske Radio:

– This is not a stab in the back. Just we could have had certain illusions. Everythings seems to be simple behind the facade of events in Belarus. No one even thinks that 3 presidential candidates have died under suspicious circumstances over the past 15 years there. No one even thinks how many oppositionists are jailed there.

Lukashenka regime is no better than Putin regime. Besides, Belarus is a union state with Russia. They have joint military units and joint air defense system. We were very happy that Lukashenka refused to place the Russian air brigade in Belarus, but we forget that instead he proposed to place missiles there. He perceives NATO as an enemy unit. In February 2014 Belarus voted against the territorial integrity of Ukraine, although 110 countries supported us. Aggression can come from that side at any moment, not only because Lukashenka wants it, but also because not everything is under his control. Throughout its reign, Lukashenka has been making it impossible for the national consciousness to develop. Only now he has realized that the "Russian world" is a threat to Belarusians as well. There is no sense in having a president where there is such a nice Tsar in Moscow.

Having passed through the Revolution of dignity we should perceive the world very differently. Firstly, we need to see who shares our values and whose values we share. These are our natural partners, with whom we need to build strategic relationships and and level up to allies. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to find allies during the last 25 years. Secondly, we should define, what countries support our territorial integrity and help us fight the enemy. We should build a friendly relationships with these countries, and even give them certain preferences. All the Soviet Union era sentiments of fraternal peoples are superfluous.