Belarus.

[CHORNYVOLK]

Lukashenko's style: Slavic unity in exchange for gas
Medvedev: We will not take “pies or pancakes” for gas
Is the Russian-Belarusian conflict over the price of gas an international conflict? Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the conflict falls outside his ministry's jurisdiction and should be settled by the countries' energy companies.

President Dmitry Medvedev gave Belarus five days to settle its $192 million debt for gas deliveries in 2010, after which Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller announced a 10% reduction in Russian gas deliveries to Belarus effective 10 a.m. on June 21. When he made the announcement on June 19, Miller sounded less like the CEO of a private company and more like a government official: "The president said it all. We will follow his orders."

The gas conflict is both a private and a government affair. This is a dispute between two companies that are both guided by the decisions of their presidents. Any economist will tell you that nothing good can come of these disputes, as they exist in a gray area between politics and economics, where laws are powerless before the will of individuals.

It was not Russia that chose supply reductions - an inefficient payment method. There are numerous private companies in Russia that operate abroad independently. Whether they make money and lose money depends entirely on market forces and the quality of their work. But what can be done if of the pipeline leads to a country where the economy is literally managed by a single man who wants to keep his hands on all the levers? How can there be rules of the game if your partner is used to rigging the game so that he always wins. And this includes every election since 1994?

Russia has no choice but to respond by concentrating all decision-making in its president and approaching the dispute as a government affair. The problem is we don't know who we are negotiating with.

In his dealings with Russia, President Alexander Lukashenko is not even a two-faced Janus but rather the mythical shape-shifter Proteus. He takes whatever form is most advantageous to him at the moment.

When Lukashenko is seeking loans from Russia or the European Union, he presents himself as the head of an absolutely independent country that can dispose of any borrowed money as it sees fit. When it comes to price of Russian gas and oil for Belarus, he becomes the president of a member-country of the Customs Union and the Union State of Russia and Belarus, and as such is ostensibly entitled to duty-free oil and gas at Russia's domestic prices. When it comes to Belarus's commitments to these integration agencies, Lukashenko is a steely diplomat and the head of a sovereign state that has no intention of helping Central Asian countries build hydroelectric stations (there were such projects within the EurAsEC framework).

But when he needs to scapegoat Russia for his country's troubles, he accuses it of refusing to provide "brotherly aid." Lukashenko stops speaking like a diplomat and resorts to histrionics. Here is a recent example: "The economy of Belarus essentially works for the Russian economy. And spare us the crap about how we just want handouts! No, we are very useful to Russia, from production to defense and other issues... It is unacceptable to act like that towards Belarus - lowering or fixing gas prices for others while raising prices for us. Gazprom and Russians won't make much money on this but they may lose a lot," the BELTA agency quoted Lukashenko.

These are not the words of a diplomat. True politicians do not resort to half-truths or oversimplify the situation to support their arguments.

Russia has lowered the price of gas for its EU partners not out of hostility toward Belarus, but because the EU was paying several times more than Belarus. Russia had to bridge this gap, so beginning in 2010 Russia increased the price Belarus pays from $150 to $174 while lowering the price for the EU, where gas prices are falling due to the crisis. Lukashenko first pretended that he did not know about the increase, and later accused Russia of stabbing Belarus in the back. It appears that Minsk is simply incapable of paying its $192 million debt, despite the billions of dollars it received in loans from Moscow last year.

Lukashenko's response was the same when Russia raised gas prices in 2005 and 2008. Initially he did not react to reports of a price increase before releasing a torrent of indignation. A man is defined by his style, and each time Lukashenko is careful to pair his groaning with a sophisticated game involving the sale of Beltransgaz shares to Gazprom. At one point they were worth $2.5 billion, then $5 billion. Gazprom is given the chance to purchase 50% of the shares, then 49% and then 50% minus one share. In all of this, Lukashenko is pursuing only one goal - to secure loans and subsidized gas from Russia, which he pays for with talk of "Slavic unity."

The Slavic unity of the Belarusian and Russian people is a fact. But these noble words should not be exploited for cheap political gain. Under the agreements signed by Lukashenko, our countries were supposed to switch to a common currency in 2005. A constitutional act removing the barriers between our states is long overdue. Yet this does not prevent Lukashenko from claiming his right to subsidized oil and gas on an almost weekly basis.

It is gradually becoming clear that an authoritarian style of leadership eventually takes a toll on the economy by undermining the trust of partners and ensuring that economic developments remain unpredictable. If you're willing to use marked cards in an election, why not use them during negotiations on gas prices? It is extremely important that bilateral relations between Russia and Belarus are based on civilized and democratic rules. Lukashenko's hands-on style of governing both in the political arena and the economy must become a thing of the past.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Dmitry Babich)

The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

[Alek]

Braslav Lakes 06-24-2010, 01:25 PM Location: Minsk, Belarus


You to show passport to use Internet in Belarus


Starting from 1 July 2010 everyone have to provide a passport or any form of ID at the post office or an Internet cafe to use Internet. The same applies to the foreign citizens.
This is according to the President of Belarus Decree #60.

I can get arrested for what I have been posting here, so I am not going to be able to participate in discussion any longer.


This is Moscow-sponsored neo-Bolshevik regime in action.


It was a pleasure to communicate with all of you and read your posts. Good luck to all of you.


(...)


Decree No 60 of 1 February 2010 On the Measures to Improve the Use of the National Segment of the Internet NetworkOn 1 February the President of the Republic of Belarus signed Decree No 60 "On the Measures to Improve the Use of the National Segment of the Internet Network."

The purpose of this document is to protect the rights of Belarusian citizens, the society and the state in the field of information, to improve the quality of Internet services and make them cheaper, and to encourage further growth of the national segment of the Internet network.


Criminal responsibility for violating decree on Internet


A draft law providing for administrative and criminal responsibility for violation of Decree #60 is being worked out.

The Ministry of Communication and Informatization released a detailed explanation of provisions of Decree #60 “On Measures to Improve the Use of the National Segment of the Internet” and regulation #644 of the Council of Ministers on registration of Belarusian Internet resources. Resources owners were most interested in responsibility for failure to observe the decree’s provisions and the Council of Minister’s regulation. The Ministry of Communication preferred not to hide that a draft law providing for clear information about everyone’s responsibility is being worked out. The draft stipulates both administrative and criminal responsibility. The Ministry also gave other explanations of Decree #60 and regulation #644 of the Council of Ministers, “Yezhednevnik” reports.

As the Ministry of Communication said, by July 1, 2010, Internet service providers are obliged ensure state registration of information networks, systems and resources, including own information networks and those of their clients. From July 1, 2010, only legal persons and individual entrepreneurs registered in the order established by law will have the right to sell goods, carry out activities and render services in Belarus via information networks, systems and resources connected to the Internet.


Braslav Lakes 06-25-2010, 06:43 AM Location: Minsk, Belarus


Belarus is actually more like Europe's North Korea. I have few days left...


Braslav Lakes 06-25-2010, 07:03 AM Location: Minsk, Belarus


They DO monitor our Internet activity. They read our letters and see what sites you visit.
As for me, well... I CAN be arrested for what I've been posting here, for my critisim of our regime.

Many people are afraid even to visit sites such as this one, they don't visit the sites of opposition. You can be fired from your job because of that.

I used to post from Beltelecom offices and Internet cafes, but yesterday they posted a warning message on every screen which said that starting from 1 July EVERYONE, including foreign citizens, have to show their passports to use Internet. They going to write down your personal data and put it in a file.

It's crazy what's going on here.

[TsarSamuil]

And I thought this was tough, lol.
slavija.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=111&thread=7467&page=1#62728

[TsarSamuil]

Kaczynski – we should discuss Belarus with Russia.

Thenews.pl
28.06.2010 14:48

In one of the more heated exchanges in an otherwise subdued TV election debate, Sunday night, Jaroslaw Kaczynski suggested - to Bronislaw Komorowski’s apparent astonishment - that the repression of the Polish minority in Belarus should be discussed with the Kremlin.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski said a priority for Poland’s foreign policy is the situation of ethnic Poles in Belarus – and particularly the repression of the Union of Poles organization.

“Each president must be strongly engaged in this. This is a problem which is also worth discussing with Moscow,” Kaczynski said in the first of two TV presidential election debates this week. “If President Medvedev came to Warsaw during my presidency, I would certainly raise this issue. Belarus is an independent state but it is important to have such a discussion”.

“This is an astonishing political idea - to discuss Belarus with Moscow,” snapped back Komorowski. “I am definitely against it. This is contradictory to Polish national interests and such a practice is not accepted in international relations. It’s as if Belarusians started to discuss Polish affairs with Russia or Berlin.”

Instead, Komorowski argued that Poland should exert an influence on the European Union’s policy towards Belarus, “to use a stronger voice in talking to [President] Lukashenko”.

Komorowski also said that he is in favor of offering help to NGOs in Belarus and spoke about the role of the Polish media in promoting democratic transformation there, mentioning Belarusian language broadcasters such as Belsat TV and Polish Radio’s Belarusian Section. (pg/kk)

[TsarSamuil]

Alek, I doubt they would arrest you for posting whatever in this forum, it's a bunch of people with opinions about the past, present n future. Not an organization with money to fund opposition. We don't hold rallies.
Even if by some miracle we had money, who would hold it, and what should it be used for? Stuff like that would be more argued over than anything else.

I doubt Lukashenko is shaking in his boots over what we say here.

[boroslav]

Jun 27, 2010 22:22:28 GMT -5 Alek said:

This is Moscow-sponsored neo-Bolshevik regime in action.

Unfortunately the bulwark of freedom and democracy plans similar things, what could lead to a trend.

US outlines online security strategy
www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f416e31e-80af-11df-be5a-00144feabdc0.html

[TsarSamuil]

Pole to run against Lukashenko in presidential race.

An ethnic Pole has announced plans to compete with Belarusian authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko in next year's presidential election, the Polish Radio External Service reported on Monday.

Economist Jaroslaw Romanchuk was born into a Polish family in 1966 near Grodno, western Belarus, and supports the Union of Poles, an organization President Lukashenko considers subversive.

"In times of recession, Belarus needs a president who is an economist," Anatol Lebiedzka, leader of Romanchuk's United Civil Party, told Polish Rzeczpospolita paper.

Although no election date has been set yet, in accordance with the Belarusian Constitution and Electoral Code, presidential elections must be held before February 6, 2011.

Lukashenko has decreed that an extraordinary session of parliament be held on September 7 when an election date is due to be set.

MOSCOW, August 9 (RIA Novosti)

[TsarSamuil]

Editor of opposition Belarusian website found dead.

Editor of opposition website found dead in authoritarian Belarus, cause of death not clear.

AP News
Sep 03, 2010 14:42 EDT

A popular opposition website in authoritarian Belarus says its editor was found dead amid an ongoing crackdown on government critics and independent media.

Natalya Radina of the Charter97 website said 36-year-old Oleg Bebenin's body was found Friday in his country house outside the capital, Minsk. She says the cause of death was not immediately clear.

Police refused to comment.

Bebenin founded the website in 1998 and maintained it despite growing official pressure.

Run by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994, Belarus has been labeled Europe's last dictatorship. Television and most print media are state-controlled, and many independent newspapers ordered closed have taken refuge in cyberspace.

[TsarSamuil]

Lukashenko says Belarusian opposition people's enemy.

The Belarusian opposition is the enemy of the people, President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday.

"They are not even an opposition. They are the enemies of the people," he said, adding that the opposition was always trying to undermine the country by siding with Belarus's enemies.

The Belarusian parliament has set presidential elections for December 19. Lukashenko earlier hinted that he would take part in the elections, but has so far made no official statement on the matter.

Lukashenko dismissed his opponents' accusations that he was pursuing populist politics.

"The people do not think they are being bought over. I do not need the presidency if people think they are being wooed," he said.

He also expressed optimism in Belarus' future.

"In the next five years we will raise GDP by almost 70 percent, increase the number of jobs by more than one-third, and ensure a drastic growth in productivity," Lukashenko said.

MINSK, September 16 (RIA Novosti)

[TsarSamuil]

Belarus opposition leader declines to stand in 'theater' polls.



Belarusian opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich said on Friday he would not run in the country's presidential elections later this year, dubbing them "a theater."

The Belarusian parliament has set December 19 as the date for presidential elections. Long-serving Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko earlier hinted that he would run, but has so far made no official statement.

"I am not putting forward my candidacy as I do not want to be an extra in a theater with a single director and a single actor," Milinkevich, who gained just 6% of the vote in the 2006 polls, told a news conference in Minsk.

"Lukashenko has every chance of once again appointing himself president," he added.

Western nations, including the United States, called the 2006 presidential elections in Belarus fraudulent and introduced sanctions against the country and travel bans on some Belarusian officials.

The opposition, led by Milinkevich, protested the results of the elections in central Minsk in what was widely seen as an attempt to repeat the color revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia. The rally was soon dispelled and Milinkevich was briefly arrested.

MINSK, September 17 (RIA Novosti)

[TsarSamuil]

Russia-Belarus relations reach deadlock - Kremlin.

Relations between Russia and the Belarusian leadership have reached a deadlock, but Russia will maintain political contacts with Belarus, the head of the Russian President's press service said on Monday.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's attempts to "enter a new [presidential] term using anti-Russian rhetoric," have affected his personal relations with the Russian authorities, Timakova said, adding that the relations would never revert back to how they were before.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev criticized Lukashenko in his video blog on Sunday for trying to pass Russia off as Belarus's main enemy in the run-up to the Belarusian presidential elections on December 19.

"The Belarusian leadership has always been characterized by a desire to create an external enemy image in the public consciousness," Medvedev said. "The United States, Europe and the Western countries acted as such 'enemies' earlier. Now Russia is declared the enemy."

Medvedev's video blog is a biting and not unexpected response to Lukashenko's 'crafty policy,' Russian political expert Dmitry Badovsky said.

"Lukashenko's key aim is to be re-elected, which is why he is maneuvering between the two sides," Badovsky said. "Soon he will try to make friends with Moscow again."

There has been speculation that Russia, which has traditionally backed former collective farm manger Lukashenko, may lend its support to an opposition candidate in the elections.

Lukashenko has expressed confidence that neither the Kremlin, nor the West would exert pressure on Belarus during the forthcoming polls.

GELENDZHIK, October 4 (RIA Novosti)

[rodders]

i agree

[TsarSamuil]

“There is more rhetoric than politics in Lukashenko’s statements”

RT.com
04 October, 2010, 17:14

The tension between Moscow and Minsk has reached a new level after Dmitry Medvedev criticized in his video blog Aleksandr Lukashenko’s “anti-Russian rhetoric”.

On Sunday, President Dmitry Medvedev accused Lukashenko in his video blog entry of trying to present Russia as an enemy during Belarus’ presidential campaign. “In the past, this role was given to America, Europe…the West in general,” Medvedev stressed. He said that the Belarusian’s leader’s recent statements “not only go beyond all diplomatic sense, they are downright indecent.”

At the same time, Medvedev stressed that Moscow and Minsk are partners in the union state and are cooperating in international organizations. The present tension must not affect relations between the peoples of the two countries, he added.

Among other things, the Russian president highlighted the issue of the recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It has become “a permanent subject of political bargaining” for the Belarusian leadership, Medvedev noted.

The latest rhetoric of the Belarusian president has influenced Russia’s attitude towards him, the Russian president’s press secretary Natalya Timakova said on Monday. It is obvious that relations “will never be the same,” Interfax agency quoted her as saying.

Lukashenko’s attempt to secure himself a new term in office using “this anti-Russian rhetoric has certainly changed our attitude towards him personally,” Timakova said.

Many have compared Medvedev’s statement in his video blog with the entry addressing relations with Ukraine last year, the press secretary said. Then there were no political contacts, she noted, adding that “certainly, relations with Belarus, our closest neighbor, look somewhat different.”

The tone of Lukashenko’s recent comment on Russia and its authorities is “impermissible,” said State Duma speaker and head of the ruling United Russia party’s supreme council Boris Gryzlov. Such comments “disagree with diplomatic and human standards,” he said.

“I am confident of good prospects of bilateral relations,” the agency quoted Gryzlov as saying. “We live in the union state and no one, even leaders, has the right to attempt to break it.”

“Although the relations between the two countries have been developing very positively in recent years, the rhetoric of the Belarusian president has been pointedly anti-Russian,” said Kirill Tanaev, director general of the Effective Politics Foundation.

“Russia has always been a symbol of everything bad and negative in Lukashenko’s internal, domestic policy statements,” the analyst told Rossiya 24 TV channel. It has been made to prove that “policies of Lukashenko himself are ideal and the only right one,” he stressed.

“In recent time, of course, [the tension] has aggravated as the election campaign is being held in Belarus,” Tanaev said. “Also, the economic situation in that country has deteriorated,” he noted, adding that in this situation “Lukashenko, naturally, needs some explanations.” “He is finding them just in the anti-Russian rhetoric,” the analyst said.

“The current is a year of constant losses for Lukashenko,” Tanaev believes. “He has not managed to get Russia’s concessions in the economic sphere. He has found himself in an isolation connected with his strange diplomatic demarche with [the ousted Kyrgyz President] Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Now he is trying to undertake something in connection with Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov’s dismissal.”

These factors are explaining the Belarusian leader’s “sharp words, hysterical reaction, the words and statements he is using,” Tanaev noted. “Two more words, and it will be bad language,” he added.

While some observers say that Medvedev “has lost confidence in Lukashenko,” they warn that the Belarusian leader still has the best chance of winning the presidential elections in December.

“There is more rhetoric than politics in Lukashenko’s statements,” believes Belarusian political scientist Sergey Chaly. The current tension is more linked to the forthcoming poll, he told Ekho Moskvy radio.

Anyway, “Medvedev will have to accept such a neighbor as Lukashenko,” the analyst said, adding that “the possibility that Lukashenko gets the majority of votes during the elections is too high.”

Sergey Borisov, RT

[TsarSamuil]

Lukashenko pledges to normalize ties with Russia.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pledged on Friday to improve his country's troubled relations with Russia.

"We should not demonize or exemplify [tensions]. We will find ways to rectify our relations with Russia," Lukashnko told Chinese media ahead of his working visit to the republic on October 9-11.

"Russia cannot live without Belarus and Belarus cannot live without Russia; we must normalize relations," he said.

Relations between Moscow and Minsk have been strained over several economic and political disputes, including Russian gas transits, and Lukashenko's failure to honor his promise to recognize the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

After months of backbiting, including a three-part documentary called "The Godfather" slashing Lukashenko's authoritarian policies, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hit out for real last Sunday.

Responding to Minsk's allegations that the Kremlin was interfering in Belarus's presidential election campaign, Medvedev accused Lukashenko in his weekly video blog of "hysterical anti-Russian rhetoric."

MINSK, October 8 (RIA Novosti)

[TsarSamuil]

Lukashenko: Russia needs time to re-think relations with neighbors.

21.10.2010 13:17

MINSK, 21 October (BelTA) - Russia needs time to re-think relations with neighbors, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told the Lithuanian newspaper Litovsky Kurier in an interview that was published on 21 October.

At present Russia aims to establish partnership relations. “Okay, let’s be partners. Earlier they used to say that we are brothers, that we are one people. Nobody argues against it. The Belarusians and the Russians are one people, are brothers. But both the Russians and the Belarusians have their own peculiarities,” said Alexander Lukashenko. According to the President, the most important thing is that the Belarusians and the Russians live in their own countries and the fact should be taken into account by default.

“Someone would like to see Belarus as part of Russia. This is why as part of the Union State, instead of a constitution that the Union State treaty specifies, we were offered the Russian ruble as a single currency, with only Russia’s issuing it. Would you agree to that? Powerless Belarus and plenipotentiary Russia. If we needed something, we would have to appeal to the Kremlin and beg on our knees,” remarked the President.

The Belarusian head of state also reminded that Belarus and Russia are united in security matters. “We are the outpost, as they like saying, in the west of the Russian Federation. Why don’t they take into account the military base? This is why one shouldn’t say that someone freeloads off others”.

Alexander Lukashenko also believes that the information war currently waged by Russian mass media against Belarus will not be productive. He said that in Russia and in Lithuania people have a normal attitude towards Lukashenko. “But it doesn’t mean that I want to be the czar in the Kremlin or in Lithuania. I have enough power in Belarus. I work well. People respect me. I am fed up with it,” he said.

“If the Russians respect Lukashenko, use it. Don’t try to reduce the respect for him in the Russian society, moreover, when results are contrary. People in Russia are smart and understand what is going on,” believes the head of state.

Speaking about the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Alexander Lukashenko said: “They say that Belarus hasn’t recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Why, has Lithuania recognized them? No. But you don’t put that much pressure on Lithuania. Have Kazakhstan and Ukraine that Russia is seemingly friends with today recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia? No, they haven’t. Why do you treat Belarus like that? It means that Abkhazia and Ossetia are not the point…”