Ten Pieces of Soap Instead of Washing Machine and TV Set :: Charter'97 :: News

Belarus doesn’t have any real development concept. Its population skeptically views the government’s plans to merge with Russia.

However, the Belarus’ economic decline and the consequent 251% inflation (year 2000) badly affected the savings of our Belarusian acquaintance Galina K. Instead of a TV set and a washing machine she bought on her money 10 pieces of soap. The money, saved to ensure her daughter’s education was hardly enough to buy her an ice-cream.

According to the official data, over a half of the Belarusian population lives below the poverty line. In reality, their number is way greater. Observers say “at least 70%”. To be more precise, people here earn less than $1 per day. How can they make their living with the prices reaching those in the West? Galina K. says: “Our meals are quite simple.” She doesn’t mention the fact that she, like many Belarusians, is eating soup and bread alone day after day. She avoids the unpleasant topic.

There’s no hope for improvement. Belarus has been facing economic impasse for the past few years. The one guilty of such situation is, first and foremost, president Alexander Lukashenko, who had been ruling over the country with an iron hand since 1994. Nostalgic about the Soviet times, he continues to spread fairytales about “pro-fascist West” and evil capitalism, leading the country to the international isolation. He systematically drove out of the country the foreign investors, who hoped to start their business in Belarus following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He erected numerous barriers for them. Since last year the master of Belarus introduced a law, under which the private companies can get nationalized at any moment. By so doing they seek money to pay off state debts.

Lukashenko’s main goal is Russia. He’s been striving to merge with the greater brother for many years in order to pompously restore the Soviet Union. However, Belarusians are sort of ironic about Lukashenko’s plans on merger. “Russia will swallow us, turning Belarus into her hundredth province,” – worries Galina K. Former Russia’s president Boris Eltsin also considered Lukashenko’s activism in this unification efforts “hypertrophied”. In particular, he oftentimes comforted Lukashenko by declarations about his alleged intentions. Eltsin had no plans of taking over the impoverished Belarus. Russia, as compared to Belarus, is quite affluent.

Nonetheless, with Putin’s coming to power Lukashenko’s dreams are taking some concrete shape. Putin has his strategic interests in Belarus. He wants to do his best to prevent the neighboring state from falling into the West’s sphere of interests. The West, alongside with the NATO extension eastwards and Poland’s accession to the European Union, turned out dangerously close to Russia.

This one reason was more than enough for Putin to uphold Minsk dictator at the past presidential elections, which took place last fall.

Lukashenko, who successfully neutralized the parliament, is doing everything in his power to annihilate opposition. He totally stripped her of access to mass media and uses his official mouthpieces to spread low-quality, stinking propaganda. The West abhors Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule. However, stress the political observers, the West is to a certain extent guilty of this too. Although Belarus is located within 1 thousand kilometers from Vienna, the West has long wasted his chances at turning the country into a strategic bridge between itself and the East. Gradually they come to realization how important Belarus is to them. The country’s territory is a transit corridor not only for the illegal immigration flow but also for the drug business. Nevertheless, they haven’t adopted any concrete concept on Belarus.

It would be wrong on our part to blame all Belarusians for having such a leader, calling them opportunistic cowards. One must realize that Lukashenko’s critics fear for their lives. People go missing in Belarus. Oppositionists lose jobs, get beaten and intimidated. Or sometimes their cars’ brakes refuse to function on high speed…