Raman Pratasevich’s brutal arrest, that involved kidnapping of a plane flying between the two European countries, shocked the Western public opinion.
In fact, this was not an extraordinary event. During his long reign Alexander Lukashenko was jailing, oppressing, and torturing his opponents. In the fight against democratic ideas, he was always close with hie Russian colleague – Vladimir Putin. Secret services of the two countries are known for joint operations including kidnapping people.
Pratasevich is not an exception. He is one of many, that fell victim to the Moscow-Minsk actions towards the West. Their need to assert their position towards western capitals, particularly – Washington.
How should the West behave? The answer lies in long term, systemic approach. An approach that turns around Russian-Belarusian game table. They focus only on the US – the EU should take the leading and strategic role. Minsk and Moscow use autocratic tools – we need to support direct, grassroots democracy in the two countries.