{"id":49388,"date":"2023-11-15T15:27:30","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T12:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=longreads&p=49388"},"modified":"2023-11-15T15:27:31","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T12:27:31","slug":"minsk-courting-warsaw-with-agitprop","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/49388\/","title":{"rendered":"Minsk courting Warsaw with agitprop"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (pexels.com \/ Antho\u00adny Beck)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On November 11, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka greeted the Poles on their National Independence Day, emphasizing that people in Poland deserve a better government. Belarusian propaganda addresses its messages to peoples in unfriendly countries, trying to pit voters against governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 27, during his tour of the Minsk district, the Belarusian ruler used an obscene play on words to say that members of the Law and Justice Party (PiS) had “pissed in their pants.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After PiS\u2019s poor showing in the recent parliamentary election, \u0141uka\u0161enka said, “I praise the Polish people. Well done! They rubbed their noses in it and actually brought the opposition to power. Poland won’t be the same anymore. They may not be our people there [in power], they are not inclined to talk to us, but they are different people. The Poles showed them: Guys, do what we tell you, or we’ll throw you out. Well done, Poles!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian state media have promoted a similar message when covering the Polish election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agitprop-style message<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In his address to the Poles on Independence Day, \u0141uka\u0161enka interpreted the election result as the Poles\u2019 wish to “stop the pointless search for internal disagreements and external threats” and to “live in peace and harmony with representatives of all nations and religions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I hope that Warsaw will listen to the voice of its citizens,” the message reads, “and will consider the friendly hand of cooperation extended by Belarus.” In other words, \u0141uka\u0161enka interprets the election result as a mandate from the Polish people for friendship with Minsk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian ruler wrote that “the best guarantee of security for Poland today would be neighborly friendship, not the unjustified militarization of the country and the arms race.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is overly simplified and straightforward agitprop disguised as a diplomatic message. Extending a “friendly hand of cooperation” in the form of an agitation leaflet thrown across the front line to the enemy is a strange tactic that bears little resemblance to diplomacy. It sounds more like a defiant political jab than an offer of peace or at least a ceasefire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Chinese factor at play?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The address sounds as if it is intended for a third party. \u0141uka\u0161enka is pretending to offer reconciliation but is expecting Warsaw to reject it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Certainly, the usual addressee of propaganda is the Belarusian public, but this message seems to be addressed to an external player, and obviously not to Russia, as Moscow has absolutely no interest in Belarus easing tension with Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might be addressed to China. Minsk’s current relations with Beijing are not very good. \u0141uka\u0161enka was not invited to the third “One Belt, One Road” forum held in Beijing in October. Chinese leaders seem to be discontent with Minsk’s standoff with the European Union, especially its western neighbors, which is detrimental to China’s economic interest in the transit of goods through Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beijing might have indicated to Lukashenka that he should do something about it, so he is trying to do something, to the best of his knowledge, in his own peculiar style, imitating attempts to improve relations with neighbors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus has been even more affected by the border traffic restrictions than China. Transit used to be Minsk\u2019s key geopolitical and economic asset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk has largely lost this status, which upsets officials. The government tries to somehow break the deadlock and reduce tension at the border to prevent its complete closure. In his recent public statements, Lukashenka emphasized his desire to start dialogue with neighbors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obstacles at EU level<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Minsk might be seeing new possibilities for a thaw in relations with the West after the start of the Gaza war, which diverted attention from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Minsk can hardly expect a rapprochement with Warsaw in the near future because the policy decisions were made at the EU level. Nevertheless, an end to confrontational rhetoric and the opening of some border crossings might be possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that Minsk’s hopes for the new Polish government are unjustified. \u0141uka\u0161enka and his media claim that relationship with Belarus was the most contentious issue in the Polish elections and that the ruling PiS party deliberately fueled tension with Minsk to shore up public support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his trip to the Brest region on October 6, the Belarusian ruler noted, “\u0141uka\u0161enka has become one of the stumbling blocks . . . in their internal political struggle.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, it is not true. The Belarusian issue was not high on the agenda during the Polish election and came up only in connection with one of the referendum questions — the Poles were asked about their attitude to the fence at the border with Belarus. The referendum was declared invalid, with the turnout of only about 40 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald Tusk banned from entering Belarus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While personal connections can play an important role in contacts between countries, Minsk has uneasy relations with Poland’s likely new prime minister, Donald Tusk. In 2007, Belarusian border guards banned him and two other members of the Polish Sejm from entering Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The border guards said the Polish MPs “threatened the constitutional order of Belarus.\u201d Maryja Va\u0144\u0161yna, then spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, said that their presence in Belarus was \u201cundesirable.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka could not resist the temptation to comment on the incident: “Being in a village, I can tell you in a rural, village way: we gave them a slap in the face and we did the right thing. They have nothing to do here.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insults and threats<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka has made it clear that Minsk will not change its foreign and domestic policies, hoping that its western neighbors will give up and compromise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His proposals to start negotiations come along with aggressive statements and even personal insults. He has called the leaders of Poland and Lithuania “scoundrels,” “madmen,” and “rabid,” accused these countries of preparing for military aggression, perpetrating mass murders of migrants and throwing bodies across the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rhetoric can hardly be perceived as a \u201cfriendly hand\u201d extended by Belarus. Minsk sends mixed and mutually exclusive signals, which cannot be taken seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is hard to reconcile \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s overtures with Minsk’s militaristic fever, the recent deployment of Russian nuclear weapons, attempts to unsettle Europe with the help of migrants and General Pavie\u0142 Muraviejka\u2019s threat of invasion addressed to Lithuania. Dialogue usually implies peaceful gestures, not belligerent statements. \u0141uka\u0161enka’s message to the Poles is not so much an outstretched \u201chand of cooperation,” but rather a propaganda pamphlet for the enemy troops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On November 11, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka greeted the Poles on their National Independence Day, emphasizing that people in Poland deserve a better government. Belarusian propaganda addresses its messages to peoples in unfriendly countries, trying to pit voters against governments. On October 27, during his tour of the Minsk district, the Belarusian ruler used an obscene play […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":48779,"template":"","rubric":[14,22],"class_list":["post-49388","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMinsk courting Warsaw with agitprop | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On November 11, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka greeted the Poles on their National Independence Day, emphasizing that people in Poland deserve a better government.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/49388\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minsk courting Warsaw with 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