Just like 1941: propaganda's latest war scare
Warning! The text contains propagandist Azaronak's quotes some may find disturbing! / collage by Vlad Rubanau, Euroradio
The state-owned media are increasingly talking about an upcoming war involving Belarus triggered by the migrant crisis on the border between Belarus and the EU. Or, instead, how the propagandists portray the problem. They call the Lithuanian and Polish border guards Nazis and their job of national border control – a punitive operation.
Euroradio delved into this week's war scare the propaganda gave Belarusians.
Lukashenka's new fits
Aliaksandr Lukashenka dished up warmongering rhetoric for the state media. On November 29, he gathered his top security, defense, and law enforcement officials to discuss a plan for "a military response to possible non-amicable aggressive actions towards Belarus." Lukashenka, who sometimes identifies himself as a "military man," came to the meeting dressed in a field-marshal uniform.
"Putting it short as soldiers do, there's unrest," the offscreen voice on the CTV's broadcast from the strategic management center starts narrating. The gist of the meeting: Belarus is a peaceful country, but "He who comes to us with the sword will die by the sword." That said, the "peaceful country" leader unequivocally calls his "former Western partners" the enemies.
Not just the Western front
At the meeting, Lukashenka also mentioned a conflict brewing between Russia and Ukraine. Then he made it very clear whose side he's on if it comes to war.
The state news agency BELTA quotes him as saying: "… they are starting an active campaign against the Russian Federation under the guise that it is 'going to attack Ukraine.' I have no such information about Russia's plans to attack Ukraine. If there were such plans, the Belarusian military, including me, would know about it. We would have been informed. But I say again: you need to present evidence. They understand very well that if they again start a war in the Donbas or somewhere on the border with Russia, Belarus will not stand aside. It is clear whose side Belarus will be on. They understand it, and this is why they began to reinforce their northern, Belarusian-Ukrainian border."
"If there's no war"
During an interview with the Russian propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov, Lukashenka downright "rattled the nuclear saber" a few days later. Belarus doesn't have weaponry like that, of course, but Lukashenka is ready to ask Putin to install some. In the same conversation, he said Belarus will hold a referendum "if war does not break out."
Azaronak in bad form
Even though Hryhory Azaronak is also a fan of wearing a uniform, he appeared plain-clothed this week, unlike his idol. His shows titled "Politics secret mechanisms" come out on Mondays. So, this time, yet again he scolds the collective West for the migrant crisis.
Azaronak has used hate speech since the very start of his propagandist career, but this time, it appears, he outdid himself. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, took the brunt of his attack. Azaronak wished for her to be… raped.
"Lithuania is handling the humanitarian crisis humanely and firmly. That's what President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said. Ursula, you're not human. Not a woman. You're a creature—a stinking pile of muck. I wish you and your whole European Commission to experience Lithuanian humanism yourself: to be raped, punched in the head, in the chest, and the back until you bla"ckout, and then to be thrown in a sleeping bag to the Belarusian border where the "inhumane" Belarusian doctors will find you in time to save your worthless life."
His words about muck and rape weren't published in the text version on the CTV Belarus website. It looks like even the channel's bosses understand Grisha's gone too far.
As per tradition, at the show's end, Azaronak does an "exposé" on the Western enemies or, more accurately, conveys his understanding of the situation. "The plan is clearly to start a war in Europe. While the Poles are distracting Belarusian troops, Bandit psychopaths attack Russia. Poles and the Baltic primates get involved. The European Union is breaking up. Eurasia wins the war but is damaged. The States are the world hegemon once again."
Of course, he couldn't do without a war scare.
"Remember that you blasted humanoids, you love to start wars, and we end them. This time, we won't stop in Vilnius or Warsaw. We'll finish it in London and Washington."
No comments.
Wow, 'This is just like 1941.'
Lyudmila Gladkaya, an employee of the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House, also stood out this week. She compared the situation on the Belarusian-Polish border with the start of the war.
"This is just like 1941 when everything began. It reminds me, my colleagues frequently asked what impressed me the most. You know, it's the indifference of those behind the barbed wire. Should it be gays or our nationalist BCHB traitors standing on the border, the EU would've probably opened the doors."
During the presentation of a book shamelessly titled "Poland's and Lithuania's crimes against migrants: facts and testimonials," Gladkaya shared her opinion. The author of the book is another propagandist, Vadzim Gigin. One would think the crisis is not over yet. How did they manage to finish a book already?
Don't be surprised, though. The book is essentially a photo album with short blocks of text, primarily reprints of the news, both from Belarusian and foreign sources. The selection of foreign sources is telling – they only included those who wrote about the "Polish border guards' draconian measures."
The first quarter of the book is just a short intro into the "21st-century migration crisis history." Here they have the Iraq War, the Arab Spring, and photos of the NATO soldiers. Apparently, to show the culprits.
