Belarus is part of Russia, not the Russian Federation, but the millennial homeland. Temporary independence does not change anything. […]
An attempt to arrange a Maidan in Belarus has failed – although the unrest in Minsk and other cities will continue for some time… The mood for provocations and the next Euromaidan was obvious long before the elections – that is why Lukashenko was so nervous and even though he knew perfectly well that the game against him is being played by the West, he also believed in Russia’s involvement in possible provocations.
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the all-Russian nation and Russian world/civilisation, and Western attempts to disrupt Belarusian-Russian relations.
The claim contains multiple disinformation narratives. Above all, Belarus is a sovereign nation-state with a long history, which preserved its language, literature and identity, despite foreign rule for long periods. See an earlier disinformation case that Belarusians, Ukrainians and Russians are one nation here.
Protests in Belarus erupted after thousands of people took to the streets to contest the results of presidential election in Belarus, that are considered fraudulent by a large part of society. Accusing the West of organising colour revolutions is a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative. The EU High Representative has declared that the 9 August elections were neither free, nor fair.
See previous disinformation cases alleging that the EU continues to support a colour revolution in Belarus; the EU provoked a civil war in Ukraine, now it destabilises Belarus; Belarusian opposition wants to turn Belarus into the 51st state of the US.
The Europeans, these mourners of democracy, have standards for themselves (for example, look at how protests in France were recently dispersed), but for people like Lukashenka and Yanukovych, they have completely different standards.
Just as these protectors of democracy did not think about Ukraine, now they do not think about Belarus. They need to turn Belarus into another anti-Russian outpost.
You [Belarusians] are pushed to the Ukrainian scenario.
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Western Russophobia, also alleging that the protests in Belarus that followed the last presidential elections are orchestrated by external actors.
The EU does not plan to turn Belarus into an anti-Russian outpost. It did not recognize recent presidential election, as the election process did not meet the international standards expected of a participating state of the OSCE. The EU also condemned the violence against protesters who spontaneously took to the streets to protest fraudulent elections.
There are clear attempts of foreign interference, aiming to cause a division in society and to destabilise the situation [in Belarus]. The Kremlin observed an unprecedented pressure by individual foreign partners on Belarusian authorities. Brussels and Washington started using post-electoral violence and the measures adopted by Minsk to contain these riots as a pretext to present new accusations against the country.
This is part of an ongoing Russian disinformation campaign about post-electoral protests in Belarus, portraying demonstrations against president Alexander Lukashenko as a Western-led violent colour revolution. Contrary to the claim, anti-Lukashenko protests have been mostly peaceful, and violence has come from Belarusian police and authorities against demonstrators, including beatings, torture and excessive force. These human rights violations are not a pretext used by Western powers to pressure Minsk, but rather Washington, Brussels and other Western capitals protested them as a reaction to Lukashenko’s abuses. There are also strong evidences pointing that the election was rigged.
See other examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives in Belarus, such as claims that the EU reaction to Lukashenko’s victory is an example of Western double standards; that the same lack of democracy and repression is present in EU countries that criticize them in Minsk; that the arrest of Russian mercenaries in Belarus was a Ukrainian provocation, and the Ukrainian secret services may have planned terrorist attacks in Belarusian territory; that the West wants to prepare another Maidan in the country; or that Belarusians, Ukrainians and Russians are one single nation.
There are very specific people behind provocations in Belarus, those who have been attempting to encircle Russia with enemies in the last years. […] In Belarus, they wanted to act according to the Ukraine scenario, though this time Western elites feared to openly make a coup. Nobody was sent to the country to distribute cookies, and it wasn’t possible to force youngsters to organise a tent camp in one of the squares. This signals that in the coming days, the protest wave in Belarus will fail. The opposition and the enemies of Lukashenko abroad won’t agree with the election results for some time, but this won’t change anything. The West failed in its coup in Belarus.
Recurrent pro-Kremlin narratives as part of an ongoing disinformation campaign on the events in Belarus, portraying every popular protest in the world as a Western-backed colour revolution and as an attempt to encircle Russia. No evidence is provided to support the claim.
See other examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives in Belarus, such as claims that the EU reaction to Lukashenko’s victory is an example of Western double standards; that the same lack of democracy and repression is present in EU countries which criticize Minsk; that the arrest of Russian mercenaries in Belarus was a Ukrainian provocation, and the Ukrainian secret services may have planned terrorist attacks in Belarusian territory; that the West wants to prepare another Maidan in the country; or that Belarusians, Ukrainians and Russians are one single nation.
