Poczobut reflected on the future in the region: If geographically Belarus is part of Europe, politically it is part of Asia
Journalist and activist Andrzej Poczobut stated at his lecture «35 years after the collapse of the USSR: why does Homo Sovieticus still exist?» that even if peace takes root in the region, Belarus, as a «political part of Asia», is unlikely to quickly establish genuine friendly relations with the West.
The former political prisoner gave a thematic lecture on the occasion of the solemn opening of the new academic year at the Institute of Eastern Europe of the University of Warsaw.
According to Andrzej Poczobut, Aliaksandr Lukashenka was the first of the newly elected leaders of post-Soviet countries to sense a wave of public nostalgic sentiments for the USSR, and it was with this that he won over a large part of the population.
«A book "Accidental President" was written about Lukashenka, but he is not accidental at all, considering we have been talking about him for 32 years. It turned out that the death of a person does not equal the death of the USSR. The Soviet person can be reproduced, and their values passed on».
The main conflict in Belarus, as Poczobut believes, lies in the conflict of people with «sovok» (Soviet-era, backward) values against people with democratic, Western, European sentiments.
«And to one extent or another, this conflict is characteristic of all post-Soviet countries. Georgia, for example, developed in a Western direction — it seemed that the country had left its main problems in the past, but today Georgia has begun to develop in the opposite direction. And more and more often it is compared to Belarus».
Poczobut names the same conflict of values as one of the reasons for the war in Ukraine. And as long as it remains relevant for our entire region, the journalist sees no possibility for friendly, amicable coexistence of neighbors with opposing poles.
«The war in Ukraine will end sooner or later. Sooner or later, some form of peace will come. But even with the end of the war, the conflict between democracy and authoritarianism (totalitarianism) will not disappear. We must be prepared that this conflict will continue to define the interaction between East and West for many years to come. Between Europe and Asia. And if geographically Belarus is part of Europe, politically it is part of Asia and those patterns that were instilled by Asian satraps», — Poczobut reflects.
«As an optimist, I hope that we will not have a major war, but great friendship is also impossible, a reset is impossible. And a genuine improvement in relations seems impossible. The West has experience with the Cold War, and it seems that this is where we should draw inspiration from today».
In 2023, Poczobut was sentenced in Belarus to eight years in a strict-regime penal colony. He was released in April 2026, having spent 1,860 days behind bars. In September, the journalist traveled to Belarus for a week, and then returned to Poland without hindrance. He again plans to repeat his route in December.
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Ci mo jon adziny apynuŭsia z imunitetam suprać azyjatčyny, a ŭsia Biełaruś - nie? Jakoje jon maje prava vykazvacca i pra mianie ŭ tym liku ? Heta ci nie prykmieta toj samaj azyjatčyny ? Ha ?