Andrei Khrapavitski: Belarusian American Blog

Emanuel Zeltser is free. The U.S. lawyer was released from a Mogilev prison soon after the Belarusian president granted him an amnesty. The American citizen had been held in a prison on far-fetched charges of “using false official documents” and “attempted economic espionage.” His case was heard in a closed judicial proceeding. The U.S. Embassy in Minsk criticized the proceedings, noting that it was denied the opportunity to observe the trial. The State Department repeatedly called for Mr. Zeltser’s release on humanitarian grounds.

The Belarusian regime resisted. It resisted until normalization of relations with the West has become a major factor to save the tormented Belarusian economy battered by the crisis and tensions with Russia. Shamefully, Zeltser’s incarceration was sort of a joker card the Belarusian president kept in his pocket knowing he can use it when necessary. The situation required, so he used it. I am wondering how different this is from what terrorists do when they kidnap Americans or Europeans for ransom. Zeltser case is just another sad indication that the Belarusian court system serves political needs of the ruler.

Yet, I agree with Melyantsov (Belarusian political expert, BISS) that the United States should use the release of Zeltser as a starting point to normalize relations with Minsk. The more Lukashenko’s government opens up to the West, the sooner it crumbles.

Ever since the 2006 presidential campaign, the biggest Belarusian independent newspaper Narodnaya Volya has been cold, even inimical towards Milinkevich. But now the newspaper’s bias against this politician has gone a bit too far.

Last week, Narodnaya Volya published an article by Mikhail Podolyak titled “Bleacher M.” In this opus, Milinkevich was accused of being part of a secret plot between him, Lukashenka, and some European political forces. Podolyak claimed there was a European plan “Solana/Lukashenka.” According to this plan, Milinkevich would be given a post inside the Belarusian government and Lukashenka would get another legitimized presidential term. In their turn, Europeans would win favorable conditions for business in Belarus.

Podolyak unveiled that, during the next presidential elections, Milinkevich would become a “technical” candidate, supported by Europe, he would get some 20-25% votes and would be offered a post of the vice president in the next Lukashenka’s cabinet. The latter would most certainly win the vote with triumph, wrote Podolyak. (more…)

Today is another day of heavy bombardment. A group of Catholic monarchists is attacking the pagan front for their alleged neo-Nazi views, the traditionalists are shooting back. With my Logitech mouse, I make a couple of scrolls down, and here I am on another battlefield, this time it’s between the liberals and paleoconservatives. Yet another scroll, and I am amidst the heavy fighting between the national democrats and the creoles.

Following Belarusian blogs through my Livejournal friends’ feed, I am subjected to a never-ending culture war between diverse socio-political groups and subcultures. Identities, worldviews clash nonstop, no ceasefire here. (more…)

There’s been a lot going on in Poland over the last couple of weeks. All of a sudden, Agnieszka Romaszewska-Guzy, who served as the director of TV Polonia (Public TV in Poland) and also as the director of Belsat TV, was fired from both her positions.

Belsat TV – set up by the Polish government and public television in Poland - symbolizes freedom for Belarusians, and Romaszewska-Guzy was a modernizer who sought to develop and foster free media in Belarus, writes Polskieradio.pl.

In solidarity with Romaszewska, Paval Mazheika, a popular talk show host on Belsat, announced his resignation from the channel.

Polska (Times) claims that the firing of the director of Belsat television, Agnieszka Romaszewska-Guzy, proves that the new president of TVP public television in Poland supports President Aleksander Lukashenko, and is a major blow to free media initiatives in Belarus.

The president of TVP Piotr Farfal, who was recently appointed to the position, is described by the Polish media as “a former editor of a Polish neo-Nazi magazine.” Check out his bio, you’ll be surprised. Farfal was reportedly a skinhead and a radical Polish nationalist.

Gazeta.pl quotes Piotr Farfal as saying “I don’t see why TVP (Polish Television) should finance Belsat TV. [Polish] television does not have a spare dime for Belsat. If the government wants this channel, let them cover the full cost of its maintenance.” Farfał underscored that “In accordance with its bylaws, TVP is not an institution obliged to produce a channel broadcasting in a foreign language to non-Polish people.”

“The transmission is carried out first and foremost for Poles. Hence I agree to the need for additional financing of TVP Polonia, which is produced for Polish expatriates, but why should TVP produce television for Belarusians for our money – that I do not understand,” said Mr. Farfal.

I understand the economic crisis is the time when it is hard to justify maintaining a satellite channel for a foreign country (especially, if you have a rightwing point of view at the world around you). But how can a rightwing politician (with such credentials) or how, actually, any politician whatsoever be appointed to preside over the public television institution in a democratic country? That I do not understand.

It’s like driving in the opposing lane
It’s like waking up into another migraine
It’s the morning in Vilnius, the nation wakes up
Shakes off all its stilts but fails to stand up

It is so hard to see through this rain what’s at stake
When there’s nothing to give and too little to take
All is washed away, all goes down the drain
But you’re proud of your nation, proud of your chain

Like a dog on a leash, you are strapped to a place
You’re disguising your pain with a smile on your face
It’s the morning in Minsk, the nation wakes up
Shakes off all its stilts but fails to get up

They shenanigan us with those history books
We are under control of political crooks
We have slurred ourselves more than enough
But we can’t take a stand, we just cannot get up

“It’s no longer a question of print or online. It’s what you’re about online,” writes Dana Blankenhorn on ZDNet. Newspaper business is dying. I hear gloomy projections on print media market from all over: the United States, Estonia, Norway, Great Britain, Ukraine, etc.

In Belarus, independent newspapers do not turn profit; it’s even dubious to say there’s a media market in Belarus. The state-owned media are financially bolstered by the state, while few surviving independent newspapers are hampered by various unfair regulations, taxation policies, economic and legal obstacles making it impossible for them to succeed. But would they? Would the Belarusian press become successful if all the impediments were dropped? (more…)

Yesterday one Vilnius-based Belarusian publicist rebuked me for using a Belarusian form “Kaziuki”in my brief blog post about a famous Vilnius traditional fair Kaziukas. He argued that the fair which is centuries-old should be translated into Belarusian as Kaziuk (singular) because it is the correct interpretation of Kaziukas (singular, Lithuanian) while “Kaziuki,” the form I used, is plural. Before I tell you about our linguistic argument, here’s my video report from Kaziukas Fair 2009.

By the way, if you are in Vilnius, today is the final day of the fair. Don’t miss it!
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The pendulum has swung. The period of temporal calmness couldn’t last long. In fact, it had been unwise to trust the longevity of Belarus’s political liberalization. The new year has brought a worrisome trend of new politically motivated arrests, repressions against the opposition activists and attacks on the freedom of speech. (more…)

This poster in Dublin International Airport explains passengers of which destinations are eligible to buy goods at a local duty free shop.

But wait… Have a closer look. On this poster, the capital of Belarus, Minsk, is attributed to Russia.

OK, guys, very cute. Maybe, I should suggest that the Belarusian Airport comes up with something similarly insulting. How about hanging a map of Europe with Ireland marked as part of the United Kingdom?

The discrepant poster was spotted by a Belarusian traveler and a well-known blogger barilotti.

Yesterday Maskouski District Court of Brest ruled that a double issue ##7-8, 2008 of a Belarusian intellectual journal ARCHE contained extremist materials and thus was subject to confiscation and destruction. Just a week back, I visited a presentation of Aleh Latyszonak’s book “The Soldiers of the Belarusian People’s Republic “where I bought this yet-untabooed issue. Who would’ve thought, now I am a proud owner of an extremist magazine… So let me walk you through the stuff that the Belarusian court found extreme and inappropriate for the Belarusian readers to see.

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