How Belarusians can get closer to Europe
European values are close to Belarusians, but they do not always understand them / Collage by Ulad Rubanau, Euroradio
Belarusians are more European than they think, says sociologist Henadz Korshunau. But how to make people understand that Europe is close to them? And how to prevent Europe from forgetting that Belarus is an important part of the European family?
These questions were discussed during the recent expert analytical club session called "More Europe for Belarus: how to achieve this in 2023?". Euroradio has collected the most interesting results of the meeting.
Belarusians are often neutral because they are afraid of Russia
Europe is very different, so it is difficult to talk about the commitment of Belarusians to all European values. But when it comes to the private sector, the denationalization of the economy and some other issues, Belarusians are very pro-European, Henadz Korshunau believes. There can be found paradoxes of course. The first one is value.
"Belarusians do not identify some of their aspirations and values with European ones," Korshunau says. "The second paradox is the desire for neutrality. This is a very specific situation for the post-Soviet space. Usually, the countries that have emerged from the post-Soviet space choose one or the other answer to the question of whether they are going to the East or the West.
Korshunau sees several areas of activity here. The first is to tell Belarus about Europe, taking into account the paradoxes he identified.
"No matter how it hurts the eyes (remember the benches on which people stood after taking off their shoes), this is about the right to self-expression, about respect. We have to tell people that this is Europeanism. This is not just respect for LGBT people, as the Russian world imposes. Europe is mutual respect. And what we wanted in 2020 is "to be called people", this is a natural European way of life.
The second direction is to more actively bring Belarus to Europe, not only at the political level, but also through work with European media and scientists.
"This is not typical for Belarusians, but we need to be more self-seeking, we need to tell more about what worthy talented Europeans we are," Korshunau continues.
Stanislava Hlinnik, co-founder of the Belarusian Youth Center and member of the Coordinating Council, believes that the work of NGOs and self-awareness are very important.
"The theory of small deeds, soft power - all this seemed to have stopped working in the first days of the war. But now I see a trend back to this way. This is how you can promote European sentiments in society, as it was done before 2020, when NGOs were working. That led to 2020.
But of course we have to deal with national identity. In addition to defining what modern Europe stands for, we need to start with who we, Belarusians, are.
This will help protect the country's interests from Russia, Milinkevich adds.
"And then populists, pro-Moscow candidates will not pass. Russia will be sick for a long time, will be imperial. The people has become fascistic. It will not be easy for us to stand strong after the victory of Ukraine. Belarus is the last chance for the empire, because no one wants to die, including the empire," the expert concluded.
