President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, with the help of controlled media, created confidence in Belarusian society that it is he who feeds all of Russia, and instilled the opinion that integration with the Russian Federation is undesirable.
Political scientist Rostislav Ishchenko stated this on radio Aurora, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Over these decades of essentially Russophobic propaganda, which Lukashenko organized with the help of the state media of Belarus, he convinced the Belarusian people, including that part of them, that has a positive attitude towards Russia. That Russia cannot exist without Belarus, that Belarus feeds Russia with its products, that Belarusian industry provides the Russian defense industry, that Belarus provides all Russian needs, including tractors, and so on.
In Belarus, by and large, not everyone believes in this, but many, including people who have a positive attitude towards Russia. Therefore, accordingly, our integration efforts, in many respects, cause approximately the same reaction in Belarusian society as proposals to integrate Belarus and Ukraine cause in Russian society: “Why feed?” This is roughly the same way they look at it in Belarus,” the expert shrugs.