Four recent events have the potential to affect the ongoing evolution of the Belarusian political scene. First, on March 6, the founding congress of the pro-Russian party Soyuz (Union) took place in Minsk with 135 participants. So far, even the government itself does not have a party – something that is going to change soon, as the Party of National Unity is to be created on the basis of the Belaya Rus social movement. Soyuz and its chairperson, Sergei Lushch, position themselves as an opposition faction, favoring tighter Belarusian-Russian integration. At the height of street demonstrations in mid-August, Lushch declared that “the mistake of the Belarusian authorities, who ordered the violent dispersal of the very first protests in Minsk, and skillful moderation of social networks by transnational puppeteers have made the incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko effectively illegitimate. Russia should play a more active role in stabilizing the situation”.
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Grigory Ioffe: Reshaping Belarus’s political scene
Belarusians living in Poland and Poles supporting them hold historical Belarusian flags on the Castle square in Warsaw to celebrate the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus to mark six months since the beginning of protests in Belarus, on Feb. 7, 2021.
