"Ukraine’s case has taught no lesson to either Belarus or Russia"

The Belarussian authorities are making the same mistakes their Ukrainian colleagues were making during the Maidan and if the social-economic situation in Belarus continues to deteriorate, that country may face the Ukrainian scenario, political scientist Pavel Svyatenkov told EADaily on Mar 28.

“Today, Lukashenko’s regime facing the most serious protests ever. For the first time, people who have supported Lukashenko for years are going into the streets against him. They are not yet ready to topple him but if the social-economic situation in their country continues to deteriorate and Lukashenko offers no solutions, they may well do it. Belarus is moving towards the Ukrainian scenario. Very soon, the country may face the rise of a nationalist anti-Lukashenko and anti-Russian movement. And once again Russia is doing nothing but silently hoping to come to terms with local elites,” Svyatenkov said.

“The Russians are doing nothing to dispel the Belarusians’ fears that they may infringe on their sovereignty and may restrict them in something. Most of the Belarusians will forget about it simply because they are not aware of it. So, we see that in Belarus the Russian authorities are making the same mistakes they were making in Ukraine. They have not forgotten anything but they have not learned anything either,” Svyatenkov said.

According to EADaily, some 3,000 people gathered in the streets on Mar 25 to express their displeasure with Lukashenko’s regime.