DISINFO: The Vatican does not intend to participate in the American and Polish “war games” around Belarus
SUMMARY
It has been known for a long time that the policy of Warsaw towards Minsk, as the entire Eastern Policy of Poland, is the implementation of external directives and instructions. There is no doubt that at the present moment, the Polish authorities are waiting for a signal from Washington as soon as Joe Biden’s team moves into the White House. Knowing the tendencies in the policies of the Democrats, we can assume that the financial, training and information support for the [Belarusian] opposition will be even more intensive. There are two channels to pass this support – Poland and Lithuania. Until recently, this Polish channel had been supported by part of the Catholic Church, but the recent decision of the Vatican to dismiss Archbishop Kandrusevich from the position of the Head of the Belarusian Church clearly shows that the Holy See does not intend to participate in these “war” games.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Western attempts to organise a colour revolution in Belarus – it promotes the message that the US uses its European “vassals” (Poland and Lithuania) in order to destabilise Belarus.
The claim that the Catholic Church in Poland and Belarus has any connection to an alleged redistribution of American support to the Belarusian opposition is disinformation. The recent dismissal of Archbishop Kandrusevich is connected to the increased pressure of the Belarusian authorities on the Catholic Church because of its active criticism of the violent actions of Alexander Lukashenka. On 31 August 2020, without any legal reason, the Belarusian authorities refused to allow Archbishop Kandrusevich to enter Belarus. The Head of the Russian Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin reacted to these developments claiming that “protests in Belarus may take the form of religious divide among Catholic and Orthodox protesters”.
Finally, Poland is a sovereign country, which develops its foreign and domestic policies without any alleged American “dictate”. Read more about Polish Foreign Policy here.
The same article contained another disinformation message about Poland focusing exclusively on relations with the Belarusian opposition.
See similar pro-Kremlin disinformation messages - Poland presented a plan of active interference in the domestic affairs of Belarus, Poland and Lithuania directly sponsor open extremist actions against Belarus, and the CIA will try to repeat a Maidan scenario in Belarus.