{"id":94330,"date":"2024-07-07T21:50:29","date_gmt":"2024-07-07T18:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/94330\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"belarus-russia-integration-nears-critical-level-latuska","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/94330\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarus-Russia integration nears critical level \u2013 \u0141atu\u0161ka"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Pavie\u0142 \u0141atu\u0161ka on Telegram)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

July 7, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Belarusian opposition politician Pavie\u0142 \u0141atu\u0161ka has accused Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka of ceding Belarus’ independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country’s integration into the Russian-led Union State is “nearing a critical level,” \u0141atu\u0161ka told the Future of Belarus conference in Warsaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event was attended by experts from Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, the United States and Ukraine, according to \u0141atu\u0161ka’ Telegram channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The politician said that political and military control over Belarus is increasingly being transferred to the Russians with \u0141uka\u0161enka receiving generous subsidies in return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described the West’s approach as an appeasement strategy, blaming it for threats to the country’s independence and tension at its borders with Ukraine and the European Union (EU).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For fear of pushing \u0141uka\u0161enka into Russia’s arms, the West ends up seeing Putin and \u0141uka\u0161enka in an embrace,” he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141atu\u0161ka, who leads the National Anti-Crisis Management (NAM), suggested concrete steps to help Belarusians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They include a relaxed EU visa policy, increased support for the independent media and democratic institutions and “erasing the red lines for \u0141uka\u0161enka, which he crossed long ago.” The politician also called for coordinated sanctions against Minsk and Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to him, most Belarusians support democracy and oppose the Russian war against Ukraune. Supporting Belarusians and their power of agency should be at the core of a strategy on Belarus, he said. This means that the West should strengthen Belarusians’ ties with Europe, not destroy them, he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the conference, he also spoke about political prisoners, whose number may be three to four times higher than the 1,400 reported by human rights groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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