Tandem of puppets Pundit’s analysis

Belarus opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who lost the presidential election to Alexander Lukashenko in August 2020, spoke to Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Vilnius on June 20.

She expressed gratitude for the unfriendly position of the current Armenian authorities towards the incumbent president of Belarus. Are such visits and statements normal for allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)?

"Democracy" for the report

Tikhanovskaya posted a message on X and it was enthusiastically replicated by the Armenian media.

“Great honor to meet Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Vilnius. I thanked Armenia for its firm stance against Lukashenka's regime and expressed hope for continued close cooperation between Armenia and our democratic forces. The people of Armenia and Belarus deserve a free, democratic and European future,” the message says.

This was not just a private meeting. Spokesperson for the Armenian Foreign Ministry Ani Badalyan’s message testifies to it.

What can we say? The statement was drawn up badly. It is well known that Tikhanovskaya does not have a quality of delivering a clear, strong message. However, what are her speechwriters doing?

She wished a “free democratic” future to Armenia. Does not the Republic of Armenia have freedom or democracy?

Nevertheless, Mirzoyan is holding a meeting with a person who was convicted in her homeland on charges of conspiracy to seize power.

Thus, the Armenian official expresses unequivocal support for Tikhanovskaya, who once publicly called for committing acts of sabotage in Belarus.

However, there is a nuance. Armenia and Belarus are the CSTO members. Both countries are also EAEU members. Both Pashinyan and Lukashenko have recently attended the EAEU meeting.

It is also notheworthy that Tikhanovskaya posted the message on X in English. Apparently, Tikhanovskaya’s X account is intended more for the Western audience rather than for the Belarusian one.

These messages are not intended for ordinary readers. Who is interested in the problems of the Belarusian opposition in the EU? However, Tikhanovskaya holds meetings and reports on them primarily to Western curators and politicians.

According to the unofficial data, the establishment of cooperation between Tikhanovskaya and the Armenian government, parliament and local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) was discussed at the meeting between Tikhanovskaya and Mirzoyan in Vilnius.

Tikhanovskaya also urged Armenia not to extradite citizens of the Republic of Belarus suspected of committing crimes.

Housewife leading opposition

Tikhanovskaya appeared in politics by accident. Tikhanovskaya is from Mikashevichi settlement in Belarusian Polesie. She graduated from Mozyr State Pedagogical University (faculty of Foreign Languages).

She worked as an English teacher and translator in the foreign foundations. After she married a businessman from Gomel Sergei Tikhanovsky, she stopped working and became a housewife.

Before the 2020 presidential elections, her husband, who was previously indifferent to politics and was rather a loyalist, suddenly becomes an opposition blogger, criticizing the government and the president.

He has a highly qualified technical team and expensive equipment.

The sources of financing, as well as those who stood behind Tikhanovsky, are still unknown to the general public. Perhaps he himself did not know all details.

It is often customary to work through several people in the field of political technologies, when the performer himself can only guess who the final customer is.

As for the 2020 elections, their peculiarity is that the nationalist and liberal opposition parties such as the Belarusian center-right party, the United Civil Party, Belarusian Social Democratic Party were unable to nominate their candidate.

Probably, the West did not approve the participation of the “old” opposition members and did not finance them.

The West chooses new figures, namely, “street candidate” Sergei Tikhanovsky,  businessman, banker Viktor Babaryko, and politician and entrepreneur Valery Tsepkalo.

However, after the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus refused to register Sergei Tikhanovsky’s initiative group, his wife Svetlana unexpectedly became a presidential candidate.

The housewife is completely unaware of political issues, but she works with professional political strategists and has huge funds.

Hundreds of video footages are being created on Telegram to support her.

However, Tikhanovskaya lost the elections and soon left Belarus. Then people deceived through numerous online resources appear in the streets, and externally inspired riots are held in the country.

The presidential candidate, who was allowed to leave the border easily, urges to continue holding the protests from the capital of Lithuania.

Thousands of Belarusians were drawn into confrontation with the authorities and were imprisoned as a result of the irresponsible, provocative statements by Tikhanovskaya, whom the West tried to declare as the “elected president”.

Tikhanovskaya and her team led by Franak Viacorka from the Belarusian center-right party are responsible for this.

Viacorka became the main political manager of Tikhanovskaya, who for a long time could not master the role of “leader” of the Belarusian opposition.

It is worth saying that Belarusian nationalism, although in favour of Western trends has recently tried to be political correct, remains xenophobic and intolerant.

Hostility towards Russians is automatically transferred to all “non-European peoples”. The Russians are bad, first of all, because they are not fully Aryans, but mixed with Finno-Ugric and Turkic people.

Once, the Belarussian non-political social-patriotic movement and a number of other nationalist paramilitary formations made the Caucasus-phobic statements.

The Belarusian opposition members are liberal human rights activists having relations with numerous Western foundations.

The Belarusian NGOs affiliated with the political opposition participated in international campaigns against the Azerbaijani current authorities long ago.

In turn, the Azerbaijani opposition websites posted the information about Tikhanovskaya.

National leader of saboteurs

Even such a “patriarch” of Belarusian nationalists and an implacable opponent of Alexander Lukashenko as Zianon Pazniak is displeased with Tikhanovskaya, her provocative role and complete financial and political dependence on Western curators.

“The West has paid for everything beginning from Tikhanovskaya’s lipstick and ending with her socks. She is a dummy, living on European money. She has no politics, no ideology, nothing. Her activity is aimed at naive people, there are plenty of such people,” Pazniak, who is abroad, said.

Moreover, Tikhanovskaya publicly urged to organise acts of sabotage in Belarus. In particular, groups of her supporters tried to wage the so-called “rail war”, setting fire to relay racks and blocking railway transportation.

Tikhanovskaya’s involvement in sabotage was not indicated by the state Belarusian media outlets.

“Under the leadership of Tikhanovskaya, Belarusian anti-war activists organised resistance in Belarus by sabotaging Russia’s railway transportation,” the text posted on the website of the US House of Representatives says.

The nationalist activists have damaged the railway since 2020, even before the hostilities in Ukraine and jeopardized not only some military transportation, but also the safety of ordinary passengers.

Tikhanovskaya’s office also finances the so-called “Kalinoŭski Regiment” stationed in Ukraine. It has repeatedly declared the intention to overthrow the current Belarusian government by force and which is considered a terrorist organisation in the Republic of Belarus.

Puppet dancing

However, we must not be surprised by the current action of the Armenian Foreign Ministry. The statements against President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and anti-Belarusian statements made by some Armenian individuals and journalists have been heard for a long time.

When Lukashenko said that the relations between Belarus and Azerbaijan are fraternal, the Armenian press reported that he is an “Armenophobe”.  Must Belarus demonstrate hostility towards Azerbaijan to please the leaders of Armenia?

Moreover, Minsk never spoke about Armenia negatively. Belarus always offered its help to resolve the conflict with neighbours peacefully - but on the basis of recognition of the sovereign territorial rights of Azerbaijan.

However, the number of unfriendly steps by the Armenian officials, rather than private media outlets or public speakers, is rapidly increasing.

Thus, the Armenian delegation met with Tikhanovskaya during a meeting of the “Euronest” inter-parliamentary delegation (“Eastern Partnership” under the EU) in March 2024.

President of the Armenian National Assembly Alen Simonyan negotiated with Tikhanovskaya.

“Tikhanovskaya discussed the issue related to a conscript who escaped from Belarus and was detained by Armenian law enforcement officers at the request of the Belarusian colleagues. Simonyan promised to provide Novikov with political asylum in Armenia,” the media reported.

Indeed, Yerevan is trying to build a curious format of cooperation in the CSTO.

A draft dodger from one country arrives in its ally country and it hides him there, ignoring interstate agreements. However, these are all questions of a humanitarian nature.

Of course, Svetlana also raised the problems of big geopolitics. During the meeting she praised Armenia for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s refusal to attend the CSTO summit in Belarus in 2023.

Then Yerevan aggravated the relations. As if having heard Tikhanovskaya’s “approval”, Pashinyan said in the Armenian parliament on June 13 that neither he nor other officials would ever go to Belarus again as long as Lukashenko is president there.

Allegedly, the Armenian prime minister did not like the statement of the President of Belarus regarding the legal return of Karabakh to Azerbaijan made during a recent visit to Baku.

On the same day, Yerevan decided to recall its ambassador in Minsk “for consultations”. Minsk had no choice but to act in the same way.

“We all see the difficult internal political situation in Armenia today, rapid confrontation within the country. Of course, different people have different resistance to serious emotional stress,” spokesman for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Anatoly Glaz said while announcing the recall of the Belarusian ambassador from Armenia.

Glaz expressed respect for the Armenian people and sincerely wished that “leaders who will really think about the future of the country and the well-being of people” will appear in Armenia.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry responded with a note of protest, accusing Belarus of “interfering in the internal affairs of Armenia”.

What would the Armenian side say if the  Belarusian foreign minister met with the opposition leaders who have organised a riot in Yerevan? For some reason the “allies” consider it possible to take such steps.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry immediately reacted at the meeting of the Armenian minister with Tikhanovskaya in Vilnius.

Head of the Department for Bilateral Cooperation with the CIS countries, Sergei Molunov, has already handed over a note of protest to the Charge d'Affaires of Armenia in Belarus, Narek Tiraturyan.

However, this was done in the most non-provocative form. The issues of trade and economic partnership and interaction in integration structures were discussed. The contribution of natives of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic during the Great Patriotic War was emphasised.

 However, there will be no Armenian soldiers at the July 3 parade, which will be held in Minsk in honour of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazis.

However, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces will attend the event. Armenia’s  unfriendly actions towards Belarus show first of all that Pashinyan and his team continue fulfilling the task of increasing tension in the region.

Globalists have always been interested in inciting conflicts and strife between neighbouring countries, because in such a situation it is as easy as possible for them to weaken and bring sovereign independent countries under their control.

As for the special relations between the Armenian leadership and Tikhanovskaya, the puppet politicians understand each other well.

The views and opinions expressed by guest columnists in their op-eds may differ from and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff.