Internal stability is a key factor in retaining sovereignty. This opinion was expressed to BelTA by BISR analyst Olga Lazorkina.
"Internal stability can be secured by non-standard approaches. In fact, the level of education and involvement of citizens in Belarus is one of the highest in the post-Soviet space. No matter what labels they put on us from the outside, there was not a single speech of the President in which he did not mention the events of 2020, did not once again offer to rethink together what each of us can do to preserve the independent Belarusian state. January 2021 - the storming of the Capitol in a purely democratic state, is not discussed by anyone", she added.
The analyst noted that Western countries are consistently destroying the system of peace that has developed since the Second World War. Belarus and Russia jointly and consistently resist these attempts, defending international justice.
"Belarus, Russia, Iran and other countries have proved that it is possible to retain sovereignty and economic stability in conditions of large-scale pressure. At the same time, it is necessary to understand that countering restrictive measures is a tactical, short-term task. Strategic goals require the formation of financial and technological protection mechanisms against external pressure", she believes.
Olga Lazorkina drew attention to the fact that the West rejected the key principle of the UN Charter - the sovereign equality of states. The grossest violation of the UN Charter was the intervention of the United States in the affairs of post-Soviet states. "Unilateral restrictive measures are not an innovation in international relations. However, the precedent that was created in 2020 against Belarus and scaled up in 2022 against Russia created qualitatively different conditions for both sides - senders and recipients", she added.
"The stamping of sanctions packages reformatted the legislation of the initiator countries, the consequences of which are almost impossible to calculate. The abolition of restrictive measures, which was previously included in the mechanisms, is now tightly connected with the value block. Therefore, the sanctions loop acts the same for both sides," the expert noted. In her words, economic globalization, which was used as a tool to introduce and spread influence, tied the economies of developed countries to predominantly authoritarian states. In this regard, getting out of one dependency automatically leads to getting into another.
"In the conditions of a deep crisis of trust, which has acquired global proportions, the preservation of the only structure that is a universally recognized and authoritative platform for meetings of representatives with diametrically opposed views and opinions is vital. No matter how much individual Western countries strive to reduce the role of the UN, it is necessary to remember in what conditions it was created and what efforts were spent on it. Therefore, the request to cancel the UN for the sake of some rules is created artificially and in fact simply does not exist. No sane state, especially medium-sized and small, does not allow the thought of transferring the protection of its interests to any group of persons", the BISR analyst believes.
"Yes, the reality is that the UN mechanisms cannot always work quickly, but this does not mean that they cannot be improved. The world community has entered the most difficult period after the Second World War. Multilateralism, which was originally laid down in the UN Charter, has not been fully implemented. Today, we are actively being inspired with the idea of some kind of breaking of the world order, which will sweep away all obsolete institutions and something qualitatively different will be built. It is necessary to understand that it is impossible to build a new system in a crisis and one should not have any illusions about this. But our opponents pursue such actions with an understandable goal – to prevent work on mistakes within the framework of existing institutions and to answer the question about the origins of the power and influence of the Western bloc, ,Olga Lazorkina believes.
She recalled that the sovereign equality of states has always depended on many other factors besides the principles of the UN Charter. The economic achievements of a number of countries, the ease of the spread of globalization, the pocket nature of international financial structures have formed a dangerous illusion of the possibility of globalizing the political sphere. Today, many States have to understand at what stage a mistake was made that made it possible to make them targets by creating certain samples. When did democracy turn into a weapon of mass destruction? Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria, – this list is not complete.
The analyst notes: double standards, silencing of similar problems, information warfare is an incomplete set of tools used by our opponents. "Belarus has always leveraged international platforms of various levels to convey its position on the need to constructively approach the most pressing issues, and has come up with peacekeeping initiatives. But it is obvious that in the current conditions this is not enough", she believes.
Olga Lazorkina drew special attention to the fact that historical memory is one of the most sensitive aspects in the life of any nation. Therefore, approaches to the coverage of individual historical events are very different. "It is definitely impossible to immerse history in modern squabbles, to interpret events only from the point of view of the black and white side. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki became the starting point of a new world where destruction of all life on earth, not only humans, is possible. The issue of responsibility has finally shifted to the plane of power. Today it is important to work together to prevent the repetition of such "punishments". History textbooks are almost a red line, the passage of which always causes an aggravation of the situation and does not bring any positive results", she added.
"After the attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, terrorism was transferred to the category of international problems. The world hegemon, having assessed its capabilities, has thrown a cry around the world to create an international coalition to fight terrorism. Almost all countries joined, including Belarus, which responded to the call. Today, the United States, through its actions – the web of sanctions – methodically creates conditions for the flourishing of criminal structures and terrorism. It's only a matter of time before they want to test the power of the United States again. But the formation of a coalition of opposition will require a convincing proposal. There is no doubt that everyone will take advantage of the opportunity to keep a piece of lion's fur as a souvenir", the BISR analyst summed up.