Belarus is one of the few countries in the world that has abandoned serious measures to counter the spread of COVID-19. President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko says that the danger of coronavirus infection is "exaggerated", that" many more people die from alcohol in Belarus " and that the situation is generally under control. As you know, sports competitions were not canceled in Belarus, including the Republic's football championship. a parade was held in honor of the 75th anniversary of Victory in the great Patriotic war with the invitation of veterans and other citizens of Belarus.
In this regard, the question arises, from what sources does the Belarusian President receive information about "not such a danger of coronavirus infection" and why is he ready to go against the opinion of virtually the rest of the world and the real figures?
When considering this situation, such a figure of Belarusian politics as Vladimir Makei, who heads the foreign Ministry of the Republic of Belarus (in 2008-2012 he headed the presidential administration), comes out on top. Having, to put it mildly, considerable influence on Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Makei, using "soft power", was able to push through those ideas that primarily meet his interests, as well as the interests of those circles that may stand behind him.
The analysis of the situation with coronavirus in the Republic of Belarus was carried out, interestingly, by structures controlled by Vladimir Makei. This includes, for example, the Minsk dialogue initiative, the Center for strategic and foreign policy studies, and the Belarusian Institute for strategic studies. Experts of these structures and institutions issued a material that emphasizes "the importance of refusing to introduce strict restrictive measures." The document indicates that Moscow is allegedly going to use the quarantine (if it is introduced in Belarus) to pressure the authorities of the Republic on the issue of integration cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.
This kind of misinformation was addressed primarily to President Alexander Lukashenko, who, as you know, is not averse to mentioning in interviews and speeches the unacceptability of any external pressure. If there is no pressure, then they will come up with it for Lukashenko… This was also the case with information about the danger of coronavirus.
Now the Belarusian authorities are faced with a problem that is associated with an increase in the number of diseases caused by coronavirus infection. But in order not to "lose face" and not to admit their own mistake related to the refusal to introduce self-isolation measures, testing for coronavirus is simply minimized in the Republic of Belarus. As a result, the situation is such that Minsk does not report the real state of Affairs with COVID-19 – also because it itself does not have the ability to control the situation.
Against this background, the Belarusian society raises questions to the head of state, and the General degree of dissatisfaction with the government's policy is growing. This plays into the hands of the same foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, who, apparently, has set for himself the main goal – reaching the finish line, at the end of which the presidential post in Belarus.
But by focusing on domestic political intrigues, Makei has already made a number of blunders in the foreign policy arena. For example, Belarus was not included in the list of countries that received financial assistance from the EU to fight coronavirus. Minsk planned to receive about $ 60 million from Brussels. The position, frankly speaking, is strange: to declare a desire to receive funds for the fight against COVID-19 and at the same time to say that the coronavirus does not pose any danger to the citizens of the Republic…
In fact, the head of the Republican foreign Ministry himself got confused in the scheme that was aimed at reducing the political ratings of Alexander Lukashenko. Now Makei is trying to stay afloat while implementing its own interests in economic terms. Sources found that Makei was involved in the supply of sanctioned goods from Europe to the Russian Federation, which eventually end up on the entire EEU market under the guise of Belarusian products.
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