Orwell's Belarus
Orwell's Belarus
“You know one of my
favorite writers ever is George Orwell, his masterpiece 1984 is a ghost still
haunting humanity after all those years, relevant as ever as we are about to
enter a period of more unstability that would lead to some countries trading
their freedom for some safety, or the illusion of…”
Erreh Svaia
By: Vytis Jurkonis
Taken From: News Eastern Europe
If George
Orwell wanted to experience the Ministry of Truth from his work Nineteen
Eighty-Four, he could find it in modern Belarus. Everyone knows the elections
in Belarus were not real, but for some reason, many still discuss the numbers
of this charade. International media debate the “enduring success” of
Alyaksandr Lukashenka, arguing about the “failure of the opposition” and
massively reproduce the magic spell of the regimes “peace, independence and
stability.”
Lukashenka
is currently speculating about peace at the expense of war in neighbouring
Ukraine, authorities argue about the level of freedom in one of the most
oppressive countries in Europe, meanwhile some naïve Europeans hail the
strength of Lukashenka in a country, where passivity and ignorance prevail. All
of this is reminiscent of the “three slogans of the party” outlined in the
Orwellian classic.
War is Peace
Western
partners are so desperate to see Belarusian leadership at least as a neutral
player, that they would blindly follow the empty rhetoric of Lukashenka, rather
than analyse the grim military reality.
There are
at least two strategic Russian military installations on Belarusian soil: the
radar station at Baranovichi (for the early warning of ballistic missiles which
covers Europe and the regions of the North Atlantic and Norwegian Sea), and the
submarine control centre near Vileyka (for the retransmission of signals to
Russian military ships and submarines located in the Central and North
Atlantic).
Baranovichi
Air Force base hosts Russian jets and some other places are being discussed
like Bobruisk and Lida, meanwhile joint Belarusian–Russian military trainings
at the Polish and Lithuanian border is a common occurrence. Moreover, there are
certain companies like opto-electronic company Peleng, a factory for tanks in
Borisov and Beltechexport that provide important elements for the Russian
military, while the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant is producing mobile transporter
launchers for Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Belarus is a military ally and junior partner
of the Kremlin and Lukashenka’s role as the coffee servant during the Minsk
negotiations should not mislead the West.
Freedom is
Slavery
The release
of political prisoners created an illusion of some progress, but the
intimidation, mechanisms of control and fear have not gone anywhere. The state
of Belarus runs at least 70 per cent of its economy, therefore any dissent is
challenged at an early stage by the simple possibility of job loss.
Throughout the years the regime has developed
a system where an election is a parody, independent media is almost eliminated,
and civil society is pushed underground. Orwell would not be surprised to hear
that the main opposition candidate during the presidential election in 2015 was
not planning to win. The early voting marked Lukashenka at 36 per cent,
meanwhile he “received” over 83 per cent, with the overall turnout higher than
85 per cent. Might look odd, but this is in fact common for Belarus. In a
country, where journalists are arrested for the photo of a teddy-bear or a
one-armed man is on trial for clapping at silent protests, the abnormal becomes
the norm.
The space
for freedom in Belarus is shrinking dramatically – the Belarusian people used
to come out to the squares and streets to defend their vote and to challenge
the regime. The tent city in October square in the freezing March of 2006
lasted for almost a week, tens of thousands rallied in the streets in December
2010, the economic downturn provoked the silent protests in the summer of 2011
– all of which was crushed by massive repressions. Many people are afraid,
disappointed, angry, depressed – some of them left the country, some preferred
self-censorship, but a minority though continue their struggle being regularly
detained, beaten or harassed in other forms.
Surely,
slavery is not only a physical term, but also a state of mind. The Belarusian
authorities are rightly accused of severely restricting freedom, but the
opposition are not contributing much to freedom either by demonising each
other, labelling some as traitors and KGB agents, while others are glorified as
heroes. In a country for either heroes or collaborators, there is simply no
place for an ordinary citizen. You have to choose a side and neither of them
should be questioned. In a country like Belarus you just need to obey no matter
what. These are the rules of the game, otherwise you might become an outcast in
your own country.
Ignorance
is Strength
Atomisation
of Belarusian society started long before Lukashenka came to power, but he
continued the Soviet project. Encourage obedience, punish the initiative,
divide and rule, eradicate critical thinking and seed mistrust. The Belarusian
regime became so skilled that some of the methods became the role model for
other regime countries.
It would be
unjust to say the regime was never challenged – the above mentioned protests
are examples of resilience. However, ignorance is shrinking the small islands
of freedom fighters within the society. Critical voices adapt, the best
activists become conformists and former idealists transform into pragmatists –
standing on the barricades had not been easy and became unbearable for some
when even former companions called it pointless.
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