Protests in Belarus: the threat of Intervention by Moscow?

In Russia, the Events in Belarus, especially attentive. For the Kremlin, the situation is as ambivalent as President Vladimir Putin’s message of Congratulations to Alexandr Lukashenka: you are congratulated for its alleged re-election, but calls for a “deepening cooperation” in the Union state of the two countries, and more supra-national “Integration”. Discontent in the Kremlin about the recalcitrance of the Lukaschenkas, wanted to reduce its political and financial dependence on Putin’s advances to the West, is likely to explain why the submissions of the Moscow representative of the authorities to the Events in Minsk is much more multilayered than ever.

Friedrich Schmidt

Political correspondent for Russia and the CIS in Moscow.

F. A. Z.

in the light of the first protests on Sunday evening, the speech was still a right lump of a Maidan, a coup according to Ukrainian pattern that needed to stop. The tag is in Moscow for allegedly West’s slyly revolutions, which should not harm Russia. Even now, the “Maidan”-line to Minsk still present. The Duma Deputy Leonid Kalashnikov of the tame urges-opposition Communists Lukashenka, “hard” by access, otherwise a “Maidan threatened”. Several Russian state TV channels, which can be seen also in Belarus, have taken stories of the Minsk regime, allegedly arrested “coordinators of the mass unrest” and the location as shown, as the violence of the protesters.

“The presidential election is a disgrace”

but At the same time is asking for against Lukashenka. The presidential election was a “disgrace”, said the Duma Deputy Konstantin Zatulin from the power party “United Russia” in an Interview, just on the same day that Putin, and also Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Lukashenka’s “victory” congratulated. Zatulin accused Lukashenka a “extremely selfish policy” to remain in Power, and mentioned one of the recent needle stitches of the Minsk ruler: the arrest of the 33 Russian mercenaries in Belarus shortly before the election. Lukashenka had used the story as a guarantor of the Security display.

Meanwhile, have identified Pro-Kremlin media, although “the intelligence services of Ukraine” as a guilty thing, who wanted to divide Russia and Belarus. Zatulin, however, said that Lukashenka have used the story, with the representation of a foreign conspiracy to the use of violence against protest participants prepare. Lukashenka is not the best ally, lamented Zatulin, who gave several more Interviews. Without an order from the Kremlin, such will not happen, also, that on the state channel RT and the quasi-state transmitter NTW about the brutality of the Omon special forces is reported, with understanding for the anger of the Belarusians.