Vardamatski: "No protests because people can go abroad"

The Belarusian Analytical Workshop on Thursday presened in Warsaw its latest study titled "Belarus. Reality. Essence." Traditionally, the analysts looked at Belarusian society from the perspective of economic development, attitude trends as well as the role and place of Belarus in the international arena. The study also looked at how the economic climate in the country affects political expectations of Belarusians.

That's what the professor Vardamatski told Euroradio when he was asked why, based on the sociological research, Belarusians have high expectations of economic reform or improvement of their financial situation, but rather a low rate expectations of political change:

"When they say that this percentage of people is for social change, it does not mean that people necessarily want political change. Some spoke about their material, pragmatic goals: to get salary rises. People do not think about lofty matters like politics and economic reforms. Belarusians see no link between economic well-being and the level of protest. The reason lies in the the specific mentality and history of the last 20 years. Also, people can leave the country to look for jobs abroad."

Experts point out that the issue of unemployment worsened last year, especially in small towns with a population of between 5,000 to 20,000 people. According to opinion polls, more than 69 percent of the population of small towns are afraid of losing their jobs.