Finnish political scientist: Russia will not recall its ambassador from Belarus
Russia will not recall its ambassador Mikhail Babich from Minsk, despite all the harsh statements made against him by the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.
Arkady Moshes, an expert at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, stated this on the air of the Belarusian branch of Radio Liberty.
“The Kremlin has generally not agreed in the last decade to steps that, even indirectly, could be interpreted as taken under pressure. We should have tried not to give Babich the agrement. Now they don’t cry when they take off their hair. He quickly goes from being a technical figure to being a real heavyweight in this relationship. It will be almost impossible to get him recalled,” Moshes said.
At the same time, he believes, discussions around the figure of the ambassador make it possible not to bring them to the highest level and help maintain a decent façade of alliance.
“Before Babich there was peace and quiet and God’s grace. It is clear that Mr. Babich was sent to Minsk with a mission to shock, to stir up this water, to clearly show that the problems will no longer be hushed up. The discussion is being conducted around his figure and style of behavior, so as not to raise other questions head-on. We understand that the Belarusian Foreign Ministry or the president will never say that Putin is to blame for the problems,” the expert noted.
He sees the function of the new Russian ambassador as being to openly put problems in Russian-Belarusian relations on the agenda.
“Russia wants to lower the level of subsidies, and Babich speaks openly about this. In addition, it has the function of establishing direct connections with economic entities, part of the bureaucracy and the Russian World of Belarus. These people will see that there is a person in Minsk who clearly and unambiguously interprets the Russian official vision of the current and future situation in Russian-Belarusian relations,” concluded Moshes.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.