OPINION:
Belarus Government Sponsors Hijacking
HISTORY REPEATING
By T.K. McNeil
Arrest of a Dissident
It was like something from a cold war spy novel. A national government, without a great record on human rights, tricks a commercial airliner from another country into landing there, claiming there was a bomb threat. Absurd as it sounds, this is exactly what happened to Roman Protasevich. Protasevich is a Belarusian journalist and dissident critical of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. The critic was taken, with his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, from a Lithuania bound Ryanair flight on May 23rd. Lukashenko was no doubt angered by the reporting of Nexta a news outlet founded by Protasevich and Stepan Putilo that has focused recent coverage on anti-Lukashenko rallies after the disputed election in 2020.
But It’s Current Year
The hijacking event was met with shock around the world. Many news outlets seemingly uncomprehending that such a thing was even possible. As though dogs had suddenly started reciting Shakespeare in Latin. It seemed like a relic from a different age, as though time runs in a neat line, drawing a straight path from then to now. Letting one take comfort in the idea that the badness has past. The sad truth is, history is more a set of ever repeating cycles, with little indication as to when things might come back around. The mentions of the Cold War and Soviet tactics disturbingly apt.
Surprisingly Unsurprising
To understand what happened on May 23rd, and why European History nerds and children of the Cold War, such as myself, aren’t that surprised, one has to know something about the history of Belarus. After centuries of bouncing around between different overlords, from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to the Russian Empire pre-revolution and the German Empire during World War I, Belarus gained nominal independence with the withdrawal of Germany late 1918, which only led to a power-vacuum. By 1922, the nation was reabsorbed by Russia as a member state of the recently formed Soviet Union.
Dedicated Subjects
Being part of the Soviet Union doesn’t mean much in and of itself. Annexed states such as East Germany and those making up Yugoslavia gained independence in 1989, well before the official dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Belarus did not. Remaining as part of the Soviet Union with little show of resistance until the bitter end. Going so far as to only change the name of their national security service just enough, so it is still referred to as the KGB. A decision only re-enforced when Lukashenko, a retired Red Army officer, formed the office of President of Belarus, which he still holds.
The Russian Connection
In many ways, one could make a connection between present day Belarus and Russia, and not only because both Russian President for life Vladimir Putin, and his Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev served as chairmen to Lukashenko’s Council of Ministers. It has also been astutely observed that Putin, a former high ranking member of the Russian KGB, has been slowly eroding the nation back toward Soviet politics, since coming to power in 1999. Taking a similarly hard stance against dissenters, as well as trying to expand Russia’s borders. Such as in the 2014 annexation of Crimea, a traditional Soviet possession. The biggest difference between the two is that Russia took an honest try at democracy for nearly 10 years under Boris Yeltsin. Belarus has made no such attempt.