Russia proposed Belarus in 2019 to surrender 95% of state authority, diplomat says

Russian diplomats proposed for their Belarusian
counterparts during talks in 2019 to surrender about 95% of the government’s
authority to a Moscow-led supranational structure, Belarusian Ambassador to
Russia Vladimir Semashko said in an online press briefing on July 1, as
reported by the belta.by news site. To compare, E.U. nations surrender about
18% of their government authority to the supranational structure, he said. “I
remember Feb. 13, 2019, when the first proposal was put to us in Sochi. And
when we looked at it and handed it to the president, he invited me. And I said,
‘Well, this is a complete ‘hands up.’ I won’t even continue the epithets. There
was ceding everything higher, and in my view, a few moments were left such as
we have a militia, you have a police, and so force. But that’s not acceptable,”
Semashko said. 

A pro-Russian vigilante group was launched in a June
29 ceremony in the city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhia region, the ria-m.tv
news site reported that day. Among the leaders of the Melitopol division of the
Zaporizhia Lower Army is local pro-Russian activist Oleksandr Panchenko, who
actively supported the Russian occupation of Crimea and actively worked for a
Russian invasion of the Zaporizhia region, as reported by the
duhovnyfront.com.ua news site. The kozak group announced it has launched its
activities to develop patriotism among the region’s youth and establish civic
order. “The kozaks, just as the police, have the right to conduct arrests and
issue fines,” said Ihor Lysenko, another leader of the group. Local police said
the group doesn’t have permission to engage in such policing activities, the
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty news site said.

Zenon Zawada: The Russian
proposal described by the Belarusian diplomat Semashko is similar to the
pressure reportedly placed on Ukrainian Viktor Yanukovych during his presidency
(which concluded with the EuroMaidan revolt in Feburary 2014). So Russia has
spent the entire decade trying to renew the Soviet Union with its closest
neighbors (Belarus and Ukraine), to no avail. Russia has failed to such a large
degree with Belarus that we see it being in a better position at this moment to
resist Russian geopolitical pressure than Ukraine. That’s especially the case
with President Zelensky’s policies in recent months that have drawn Western
criticism, as well as President Lukashenko’s recent moves to renew Western
cooperation.

The significance of a pro-Russian vigilante group
emerging in Melitopol is that it’s part of the current Russian campaign to
expand its influence in Ukraine and to have institutions in place to take
control regionally should the current government collapse, which the Kremlin is
working hard to accomplish. Indeed, the public’s confidence in Zelensky is
deteriorating, as well as his influence over state bodies. And both pro-Western
and pro-Russian forces are dissatisfied with him and intensifying pressure
against him in an increasingly fragile situation.