{"id":93513,"date":"2024-07-01T15:53:38","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T12:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/93513\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T13:35:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:35:32","slug":"lukasenka-picks-ryzankou-to-bring-foreign-ministry-to-senses","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/93513\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0141uka\u0161enka picks Ry\u017eanko\u016d to bring foreign ministry to senses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka told new Foreign Minister Maksim Ry\u017eanko\u016d to bring the foreign ministry to its senses. Minsk must “withstand this furious struggle,” he said as the 2025 presidential election draws closer. The Belarusian strongman has shredded Belarus\u2019 relations with the West, tying the country down to Russia.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n \n
\n (Nairod Reyes \/ pexels.com)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka on June 27 described Ry\u017eanko\u016d, a former deputy head of his administration, as a \u201ctough and strict\u201d manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe foreign ministry should be brought to its senses. . . . [It] needs a jolt to start working,\u201d he said. Indeed, the foreign ministry has nothing to boast of at the diplomatic front, but is it really because officials are simply lazy?

In 2020, several diplomats resigned in protest against a violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators against election fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tension with the West<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ry\u017eanko\u016d\u2019s predecessor, Siarhiej Aleinik, served as minister for only 18 months. At 59, he was too young to retire. The Belarusian leader was clearly unhappy with his performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ry\u017eanko\u016d, 52, has a proven diplomatic record. He is said to be a strong-willed and strict man, but he can hardly be expected to improve Belarus\u2019 sour relations with the West.

The late U\u0142adzimir Makiej, who headed the ministry in 2012-2022, walked a very fine line between Russia and the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He professed loyalty to Moscow, while sustaining ties with the European Union and the United States.

Makiej was able to manipulate tensions between Russia and the West in his favor because \u0141uka\u0161enka still had some degree of independence from Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian strongman authorized that balancing act and opened space for geopolitical maneuver, defending his power from the Kremlin’s encroachments.

Moscow’s hard-liners accused \u0141uka\u0161enka of milking Russia while flirting with the West. In fact, he was able to strike a balance in his friendships for quite a long time.

In 2015, \u0141uka\u0161enka hosted German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Fran\u00e7ois Hollande at his palace for a Normandy Four summit. Diplomats did the groundwork to prepare that meeting, but overall, Minsk’s foreign policy success was made possible by \u0141uka\u0161enka refusal to accept Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

\u0141uka\u0161enka met with John Bolton, then national security adviser to the US president, and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Minsk in 2019 and 2020.

Certainly, Belarusian diplomats worked hard behind the scenes. But essentially, the breakthrough in relations with Washington was possible because \u0141uka\u0161enka refused to sign roadmaps for integration with Russia, which could strain Belarus’ sovereignty. The Belarusian ruler ordered the diversification of oil suppliers, and the USA even sent several oil tankers to Belarus.

Makiej was just a talented executor of this strategy of geopolitical balancing. To demonstrate a degree of independence from Moscow and “soft Belarusization,” the minister paraded in front of Western diplomats in traditional Belarusian clothes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Makiej wearing a traditional embroidered Belarusian shirt during Vyshyvanka Day attended by foreign diplomats on June 25, 2017\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (mfa.gov.by)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ry\u017eanko\u016d will not put on a vyshyvanka shirt because times have changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 and 2022<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The two landmarks were the brutal crackdown on protests in 2020 and Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka turned the West against him with his brutal reprisals, and then went for an open breach by offering Russia territory and infrastructure for its attacks on Ukraine.

Makiej, seen in some Western circles as a liberal, advocated an aggressive policy at the end of his career. In 2021, he warned of the coming total purge of civil society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then he destroyed what was left of his reputation by claiming, a few days before the invasion of Russian troops from Belarusian territory into Ukraine, that the Russian army would go home after the exercises in Belarus.

When Alejnik was appointed foreign minister, observers noted his experience in the West, in particular as ambassador to the UK, and suggested that \u0141uka\u0161enka might try to improve relations with democratic countries.

But he fell short of expectations. On the contrary, the iron curtain may descend on Belarus\u2019 borders with the neighboring EU countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A week ago, Alejnik said Minsk was ready to discuss border security with Poland. But the foreign ministry’s opportunities are limited.

After all, it was \u0141uka\u0161enka who unleashed a hybrid war against the EU, using illegal immigrants, in retaliation for the sanctions introduced by the West for the postelection reprisals. EU politicians say that the hybrid attacks are orchestrated by Moscow, and therefore Minsk cannot resolve the crisis without its consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attempts to boost ties with Global South<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka told Ry\u017eanko\u016d that Minsk should focus its energies on Russia, China, India and the Global South amid hostility with the West.

In April, \u0141uka\u0161enka lashed out at officials over failure to boost exports to the Global South.

First of all, the logistics are expensive. Second, some of Belarus\u2019 Global South friends are poor. Their rulers are rich, but people live in poverty. It might be possible to do some gray business with leaders, but it would not bring much benefit to Belarus as a country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n \u0141uka\u0161enka in Zimbabwe in 2023\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Press office of the president of Zimbabwe)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are plenty of unresolved issues in relations with partners Minsk is now counting on to counter the “collective West.” Even China is worried about its goods transit through Belarus to Europe.

Before 2020, Belarus profited from sourcing cheap oil from Russia and selling petroleum products and other goods in Europe.

Now Minsk boasts that Belarus will soon be a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. This is just a publicity stunt. The country is unlikely to capitalize on its membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No way out of Moscow\u2019s rut<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The excessive dependence on Russia, both economic and political, is a trap fraught with a complete loss of independence.

Earlier, during disputes with Russia, the Belarusian ruler accused Moscow of imperialism and recognized the danger of excessive reliance on Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Since then, the Kremlin has become even more aggressive and occupied parts of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin sees the Belarusian nation state as a mishap, although he does not say it out loud as in the case of Ukraine.

\u0141uka\u0161enka probably would not mind finding a counterweight to Moscow. But his vehicle got stuck in the Moscow rut. Therefore, the foreign ministry reshuffle cannot ease Belarus\u2019 vassal dependence on Russia or slow its backslide into totalitarianism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n \"\"