On the evening of October 21, the state TV channel ONT reported that a new political party, Sayuz, could appear in Belarus by the end of the year.
The new party should emerge from the civil initiative “Sayuz” (union), which advocates deeper integration of Belarus and Russia. According to ONT, the decision to create a party arose during the work of the initiative committee, which is collecting proposals to amend the Constitution of Belarus. The meeting of the organizing committee for the creation of the party took place in Minsk on October 18.
What does Sayuz support?
The statement of the organizing committee of the party notes that the Sayuz party plans to promote the development of Belarusian-Russian integration and strengthen the civilization of the “Russian world”. Sayuz also calls on the official Minsk to recognize Crimea as Russian territory and recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Formally, the leaders of Sayuz never said that Belarus should become part of Russia. Officially, it was emphasized in the statutory documents of the civil initiative that the implementation of the Treaty on the Union State allegedly does not envisage infringement of the independence and sovereignty of Belarus and Russia. However, the party considers the current level of integration of the two countries unsatisfactory. As noted in the previous manifesto of the initiative, integration is hindered by “Western countries and their puppets – Belarusian nationalists and Russian liberals.”
Who are Sayuz leaders?
The organizing committee for the creation of the party is headed by Syarhei Lushch, leader of the youth organization Young Rus (Rumol), organizer of pro-Russian events in Belarus, one of the initiators of the Immortal Regiment march in 2018. The organizing committee also includes Mikalay Syarheyeu, Andrey Tapaz, Hleb Volkau, Dzmitry Semchanka and Uladzimir Hruzdzeu.
Previously, Lushch was one of the four co-chairs of the civil initiative called Sayuz, elected in 2018 at the first congress of the organization. And then the Union was created precisely as a Belarusian-Russian initiative. Two of its co-chairs (Sergei Baburin and Stanislav Byshok) represented Russia.
Sergei Baburin is a former deputy of the State Duma of three convocations, one of the organizers of the nationalist “Russian Marches”, the leader of the national-conservative party “Russian National Union”, which in its statutory documents aims to unite the Russian Federation, Belarus and Ukraine. Stanislav Byshok is a political analyst and executive director of the Russian monitoring organization CIS-EMO, who actively promoted the ideas of Novorossiya in his works.
On the Belarusian side, together with Lushch, the union was co-chaired by Leu Kryshtapovich, a teacher-professor, a supporter of the concept of Western Russianism. In recent years, Kryshtapovich has criticized the political line of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry in public space, which, in his opinion, places too much emphasis on the ideas of independence and openness to the whole world, which harms the union with Russia.
What is the attitude of Sayuz to the current events in Belarus?
Partisan march in Minsk, October 18, 2020 Photo: BelsatOn August 18, 2020, the Sayuz Civil Initiative published a statement, which noted that the current situation in Belarus “is very alarming and entails unpredictable consequences.” Sayuz blamed both the “pro-Polish” opposition and the Belarusian authorities for this state of affairs.
“The most important role in creating such a situation is due to the mistakes of the current government, which led to a sharp increase in social tension. Pursuing exclusively its corporate goals, this government opposed itself to a society that is mature, independent, requiring changes. If this policy of the authorities continues, the split between the state apparatus and the people of Belarus will intensify,” the statement says.
According to the statement of the Sayuz, the political crisis in Belarus can be overcome only through a broad dialogue between the authorities and “civil forces and movements united by a common Russian culture”.
The Sayuz website now also offers five steps to overcome the political crisis in Belarus. Among them are a referendum on constitutional reform and early elections.
belsat.eu
