subject: The fate of Belarus [print this page] The fate of Belarus The fate of Belarus
Entitled by the former U.S. President George Bush as "Europe's last dictator", Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has a strong iron-fist not only on his own fate, but also upon millions of Belarusians, who reckoned 16 years in a hope to see a new democratic' future. But it seems fate has been hard on this continent, and the Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians have no other option than to wait and see for another election. With 10, 000 protestors voicing against election-rigging of Lukashenko, authenticated by the central election commission for acquiring nigh 80 % of the votes, with its competitor Vladimir Neklyayev who went acquiring only 2.5 % and that even was severely chastised by pro-Lukashenko squads and shortly after the protests abducted, what could the OSCE claim except the usual improvisations that Tony Lloyd tries to compensates with "This election failed to give Belarus the new start it needed".
Belarus, surrounded by Russia, Germany, Poland, and Lithuania is the one that Russians claim to have preserved the most Russianism' in terms of post-Soviet economic development and structure ever since independence of Soviet Republics. Despite being so much Russianized', what could be said about her fate when Lukashenko over the span of a decade has been trying to build rapprochement with the U.S., something unusual in the eyes of its neighbouring allies. The lacked credibility of Lukashenko is no more a concern for Russia, whose President Dmitry Medvedev backed off even at the growing concern of Germany and Poland over vote rigging and stated it to be a matter of their "internal concern".
So, Eastern Europeans' fate still reserves the position to question about the domestic challenges of facing uncertain political regimes. Being an important member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), it needs to maintain good relations with Russia, which already has decided to provide duty-free oil' for Belarus from Jan 1, 2011. On this agreement in the hope for ratifying Unified Economic Space, Belarus must slow down attempts to curry favour the U.S. After all, it cannot bridge the historical inconsistent relations of Russia with the U.S.
