Belarusian oppositionists would like to hold their forum on the territory of the Russian Federation.
The PolitNavigator correspondent reports this in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets by the former Minister of Culture of Belarus, diplomat Pavel Latushko, who supported the anti-government protests and left the country.
“Now we are talking about the need to hold the Forum of Democratic Forces of Belarus in order to adopt a strategy for further action. And so I have a question: is it possible to hold it in Russia? And will Russia be ready to conduct a dialogue with representatives of the democratic society of Belarus? These are rather rhetorical questions,” Latushko said.
At the same time, he scares Russia by turning to the West.
“There are no geopolitical choices on the agenda at the moment, but trends are already emerging. Literally on December 30, data from a sociological study by Andrei Vardomatsky’s agency were presented, from which it follows that over 40% of Belarusians believe that Russia poses a threat to the territorial independence of Belarus.
For comparison: only 20% feel threatened by Poland. At the same time, 31% of Belarusians who want to work abroad look towards Russia, and 40% turn towards the European Union. To understand the reason for what is happening, Belarus can be compared to a man who loudly shouts that he is being killed and raped, while his neighbor indifferently looks on from the side,” says the oppositionist.
It is worth noting that Vardomatsky, whose data Latushko refers to, heads a structure based in Poland.
The publication’s interlocutor also spoke about unsuccessful attempts to improve relations with Russian diplomats.
“We sent official letters to diplomats, but they remained unanswered. At the same time, some Russian officials enter into a non-public dialogue, which the Russian Foreign Ministry may often not even know about. But the mechanisms for Lukashenko’s departure were not discussed in detail with our interlocutors,” says Latushko.