Lukashenko remains popular among Russians, despite his scandalous statements
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has become the most popular foreign politician among Russians.
The general director of the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) Valery Fedorov stated this in an interview with Izvestia, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Previously, Nursultan Nazarbayev, one might say, competed with him, but now Nazarbayev has retreated somewhat into the shadows. Lukashenko still remains on our horizon, but the attitude towards him is not connected with his oil, gas and trade policies, or with the trade in “Belarusian shrimp”. The positive attitude is due to the fact that, firstly, despite all the “buts,” he is perceived as a pro-Russian politician, and not a pro-Western one. People appreciate this,” said the head of VTsIOM.
According to him, Russians perceive Lukashenko as a prudent owner who has built a stable and dynamically developing economy and ensures a fairly strict order in his country. In addition, citizens of the Russian Federation appreciate the Belarusian president for his toughness.
“Many in Russia perceive him as a role model and believe that in Belarus everything is more tightly controlled than in Russia, and our country lacks toughness. There is an alternative opinion that this is the last dictator of Europe, a strange funny eccentric from the last century, completely out of date. But this point of view is more common among the younger generation, and as we know, they are generally less interested in politics and know less about it. This point of view is rather marginal,” Fedorov said.
Let us recall that over the past year Lukashenko made a series of harsh statements that were practically not broadcast in the Russian media. “Batka” called Belarusians “Russians with a mark of quality,” thereby denying “quality” to the fraternal people. He defined Russian policy towards Belarus as “barbaric,” assessing their shared past as life “under the whip.” Lukashenko even revised his assessment of the Great Patriotic War, stating that she was "not ours". As for the alliance with Russia, the Belarusian leader said about it “why the hell is it needed.”
With the knowledge and under the patronage of the administration of the Belarusian President in Minsk openly Russophobic conferences are taking place “Minsk Dialogue”, at which odious American and European experts speak. Lukashenko actually authorized a series of rallies against integration with Russia for the marginal nationalist opposition, at which “activists” they tore up portraits of the President of the Russian Federation and insulted Russia.
In Belarus over the past years there were several bans on the installation of monuments, dedicated to Russian state and cultural figures. In school history curricula, moments that unite Russia and Belarus are ignored.
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