The tragedy for Belarus and Ukraine
The dream of Belarusians to end the occupation and build their own democratic nation-state will come true when Europe realises that the values of western civilisation should be prioritised over the interests of different influential groups. If Ukraine can stop the imperial ambitions of Russia, a free and democratic Belarus can shut them down for good.
Milan Kundera’s essay “The Tragedy of Central Europe” had an enormous effect on many European nations fighting for freedom and independence before the end of the Cold War. Here, we refer to those nations that Western Europeans did not consider European enough. When reading the first lines of the essay in 2022, the banal yet proven argument that history is cyclical comes to mind: “In November 1956, the director of the Hungarian News Agency, shortly before his office was flattened by artillery fire, sent a telex to the entire world with a desperate message announcing that the Russian attack against Budapest had begun. The dispatch ended with these words: ‘We are going to die for Hungary and for Europe.'”
October 3, 2022 -
Pavel Latushka
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Hot TopicsIssue 5 2022Magazine
Having both ignored the problem and pursued co-operation with the dictatorship in Minsk, the West now looks on with concern regarding the repressions and violence. Photo: Roman J Royce / Shutterstock
Did Berlin, Paris or Rome understand what that person was talking about in 1956? Not to the same extent that they do now, listening to the Ukrainians saying that “We are going to fight for Europe.” How many decades had to pass before Western Europeans realised that Hungarians, Czechs, Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians and other peoples of Central Europe and the Baltics have a right to live in their democratic nation-states?
Chimera of the Soviet empire
Several nation-states appeared on the map after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Their independence was gained in the internal turmoil of the Soviet empire. How did Europe, or the West in general, react to that? For some unknown reason, western politicians preferred Ukraine and Belarus, as well as Moldova and Georgia, to stay within the sphere of Russia’s interests. While the right of the former Soviet satellites of Hungary, Poland and other states of Central Europe to form nation-states was not even in question, Ukrainians and Belarusians were labelled as more Russia-influenced than Poles and Czechs. As the decades have passed, we realise how wrong this judgement was. One can delay but not cancel the liberation of people. History puts everything into place.
As a Belarusian, it breaks my heart to see that the missiles destroying Ukraine are often being fired from the territory of Belarus. The question arises as to why we are doing the opposite of supporting and helping the free nation of neighbouring Ukraine. One of the reasons is that Belarus became a part of Russia’s sphere of influence and no one until 2020 argued with that, not even many Belarusians themselves.
Eventually, the sphere of influence in its current form ceased to satisfy the imperial ambitions of the chimera of the Soviet empire. Once the Belarusian nation decided to make its own choice about the future, the gradual occupation of Belarus began. This process came to an end in February 2022, when Russian troops did not leave Belarus but instead attacked Ukraine from the north. Someone decided that instead of building a democratic nation-state, Belarus should do whatever is in the interests of Russia – be it joining a union state or maintaining a dictator in power. That is what made the atrocities in Bucha and the assault on Kyiv possible.
I foresee critics saying, “that was the choice Belarusians made!” But such criticisms come from those who are not familiar with the political history of Belarus. Alyaksandr Lukashenka is confirmed to have won only one election. He falsified the results of the following votes and repressed his opponents to build up his authoritarian system of power.
Unlike Belarus, in 2014, Ukraine proclaimed its desire to leave the sphere of Russian interests. We all know how this ended. Lukashenka’s dictatorship did its homework and Belarus lost its last chance to leave the sphere of Moscow’s influence on its own. The 2020 awakening of Belarusian society slightly altered the situation. Having both ignored the problem and pursued co-operation with the dictatorship in Minsk, the West now looks on with concern regarding the repressions and violence. Today’s crisis stems from the refusal of some nations to use their right to self-determination because some countries in Western Europe continue to possess imperial or at least realpolitik outlooks.
Nations in slavery
The dream of Belarusians to end the occupation and build their own democratic nation-state will come true when Europe realises that the values of western civilisation should be prioritised over the interests of different influential groups. Belarusians do not ask Europeans to solve their problems. We ask them to help us use the instruments that every nation fighting for its existence has used. Please support the Belarusian nation when helping Ukraine; it will eventually bring benefits to Ukraine too! A liberated, independent, European and democratic Belarus would guarantee that Russia will not be able to pursue aggression not only against Ukraine but also Poland, Latvia and Lithuania – key outposts of the European Union.
If Ukraine can stop the imperial ambitions of Russia, a free and democratic Belarus can shut them down for good. But Belarus can only do that if liberated from dictatorship and occupying troops. Do not stand on the side-lines when two young nations are being abused and held in slavery, do not decide their destiny without asking them. Instead, help them to gain freedom and offer them assistance in line with European values.
As I started this essay with a quote from Milan Kundera, I believe it would be fair to finish with one more: “The real tragedy for Central Europe, then, is not Russia but Europe: this Europe that represented a value so great that the director of the Hungarian News Agency was ready to die for it, and for which he did indeed die. Behind the iron curtain, he did not suspect that the times had changed and that in Europe itself Europe was no longer experienced as a value. He did not suspect that the sentence he was sending by telex beyond the borders of his flat country would seem outmoded and would not be understood.”
The difference today is that it is not about Central Europe, but post-Soviet Europe. I do hope that my position will not be disregarded as romantic and old-fashioned in these times of realpolitik. Let us help those who cannot win against unprincipled people on their own. Today, when we see what is good and what is evil, we cannot let the evil win. Belarusians and Ukrainians have chosen European civilisation. It is now Europe’s turn to appreciate how much has been sacrificed for this choice.
Pavel Latushka is a former Belarusian minister and ambassador. He is currently a member of the presidium of the Coordination Council, an opposition organisation dedicated to Belarusian democracy, and the head of the National Anti-Crisis Management organisation.
