{"id":11446,"date":"2022-07-07T11:51:49","date_gmt":"2022-07-07T08:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/pro-russian-sentiment-weakening-among-belarusians-still-strong\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"pro-russian-sentiment-weakening-among-belarusians-still-strong","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11446\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-Russian sentiment weakening among Belarusians, still strong"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <span>By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t * Reproduction prohibited\n<\/p>\n<p>\n <b>Most Belarusians are opposed to Belarus\u2019 participation in the Russian war against Ukraine. Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka seems to be aware of public concerns. He has been sending mixed signals. On the one hand, he claims that Belarus is not involved in the conflict, while on the other, he threatened to attack neighbors\u2019 decision-making centers.<\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Around 85 percent of Belarusians were opposed in May and March to possible deployment of Belarusian troops to Ukraine. Support for joining the Russian assault decreased from 11 percent in March to 8 percent in May, said Dr. Andrej Vardamacki, head of the Belarusian Analytical Workroom (BAW), while presenting his team\u2019s findings in Warsaw on July 6.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Public buying government\u2019s narratives<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Although Russian troops have used Belarus\u2019 infrastructure and territory for their assault on Ukraine, 61 percent of Belarusians said that their country was not involved in the military conflict, echoing false claims disseminated by state propaganda.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t By contrast, \u0141uka\u0161enka defended his decision to back the Russian assault, speaking at an Independence Day ceremony on July 3.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u201cI made the decision on our involvement in the special operation long ago, on the first day on that operation,\u201d he stressed.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t On July 2, the Belarusian ruler warned that Belarusian troops would launch immediate counterstrikes on decision-making centers in Ukraine and other neighboring countries if Belarus was attacked.&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t He has employed quite aggressive rhetoric to defend his complicity and emphasize his loyalty to Russia. But he is reluctant to send troops to Ukraine. Instead, he says that Belarusian forces should remain in Belarus to protect Russians from hypothetical NATO attacks.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t He has been buying his time, but he may not be able to wriggle out if Vladimir Putin insists on more meaningful participation because \u0141uka\u0161enka relies heavily on Russian economic and political support.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Fewer Belarusians pessimistic about economy<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Pessimism about the economy fell to 58 percent in May from 69 percent one month earlier. Optimism rose by one point to 16 percent despite the economy\u2019s contraction and high inflation.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Moreover, the percentage of those who said their family financial situation had worsened was down to 42 percent in May from 47 percent in March.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Belarusians are getting used to bad economic news, while people and businesses are adapting by finding additional jobs and market niches, Vardamacki said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Belarusians have proved to be rather resilient and tolerant of economic hardship, but international sanctions may seriously test their endurance.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Nearly 40 percent approve of Russian invasion<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t The May survey showed strong pro-Russian sentiment among Belarusians. Nearly 40 percent approved of Russia\u2019s actions in its military conflict with Ukraine, while 66 percent said that Belarusians and Russians are one people.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t On the other hand, only 7.5 percent said that Belarus should be incorporated into Russia. The proportion rose above five percent for the first time, Vardamacki said, noting that it may just be a fluctuation rather than a trend.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Asked to choose between the alliance with Russia and membership of the European Union, 46 percent picked Russia and 29 percent, the EU.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Nevertheless, pro-Russian sentiment has somewhat cooled, declining from about 60 percent in 2018, while the allure of EU membership has not dissipated and has risen from 22-24 percent four years earlier, Vardamacki said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN * Reproduction prohibited Most Belarusians are opposed to Belarus\u2019 participation in the Russian war against Ukraine. Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka seems to be aware of public concerns. He has been sending mixed signals. On the one hand, he claims that Belarus is not involved in the conflict, while on the other, he threatened [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[24],"class_list":["post-11446","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pro-Russian sentiment weakening among Belarusians, still strong | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN * Reproduction prohibited Most Belarusians are opposed to Belarus\u2019 participation in the Russian war against Ukraine.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11446\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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