Pavel Latushka: It is necessary to invest in society, not in Lukashenko. One must talk to society
- Admin of the NAM
- Mar 4
- 3 min read
"At least 5 times the EU and the USA tried to reach an agreement with Lukashenko. What do we have today? We have the most large-scale repression in Europe in Belarus, more than 600,000 Belarusians were forced to leave the country, thousands of political prisoners, many killed, and torture has become an everyday reality in our country",
— stated Pavel Latushka, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet and Head of the NAM, at the XI European Congress of Local Government, which took place on March 2–3 in Mikołajki, during the discussion panel "Europe Against Russia: What Will the Future Look Like?"
The discussion also featured: Marek Dukaczewski — General of the Polish Army, former Deputy Head of the National Security Bureau of Poland; Jędrzej Jachira — lawyer, Honorary Consul of Chile in Wrocław; Artur Jakubczyk — General of the Polish Army; Olivier Védrine — French professor, member of the board of the Jean Monnet Association.
"Our European neighbors must make a choice: what kind of Belarus do they want to see? If Poland considers it important for Belarus to be independent and democratic, and I am convinced that this is the case, because only a democratic Belarus will not pose threats to its neighbors, then you must develop a certain strategy. What it should look like was rightly stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: Europe's security border must run along the eastern border of Belarus.
One can invest in this in various ways, but above all, the battle for society is being fought right now.
It is very important to invest in the information sphere. So that tomorrow it is not a Russian soldier standing at the border — or, worse still, a Belarusian in a Russian uniform. I believe that every European country that is currently investing in border security is acting correctly. However, the European Union is not investing enough in making Belarusians favorably disposed toward the EU, while at the same time Russia is actively investing hundreds of times more in turning them against Europe.
It is necessary to invest in society, not in Lukashenko. One must talk to society. We must talk to society. Right now Lukashenko's economy is in very poor shape, he is looking for opportunities to make contact with Europe, but he must receive an unequivocal answer: if you want to reach an agreement with Europe, you must first reach an agreement with the Belarusian people, sit down at a round table, as was done in Poland. We must compel him to make society a subject within the state. If society does not become a subject, then place whatever bets you like on Lukashenko — he guarantees nothing; he will carry out orders from the Kremlin.
Lukashenko is not a guarantor of Belarus's independence, because he has completely surrendered his foreign policy. Belarus no longer has an independent military policy, because supporting aggression against Ukraine or organizing a hybrid war against Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia is absolutely contrary to the interests of the Belarusian people", — Pavel Latushka stated.
During the discussion, Pavel Latushka noted that Belarusians are a European people, and emphasized the importance of maintaining Belarusians' communication with Europe: more visas, the opening of border crossings, and more active implementation of various civil society support programs.
Also during his address, Pavel Latushka highlighted the importance of efforts to hold the senior military and political leadership of the Lukashenko regime accountable for the crimes they have committed: the act of aggression against Ukraine, the deportation of Ukrainian children, and crimes against humanity committed against the Belarusian people. He gave a concrete account of what has been done and continues to be done toward this end by the NAM.
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