Cutting each other's throats’: Allies fear Russia will annex Belarus to save Putin’s life

Washington Examiner ^ | December 26, 2019 12:05 | by Joel Gehrke

[RomanSoldier19]

Western allies fear that Russia will gain sovereignty over Belarus, a former Soviet satellite state that could help preserve Vladimir Putin’s grip on power and sharpen Kremlin threats against NATO members.

[RomanSoldier19]

. . .

[Rashputin]

The whole "North Korean ICBM launch for Christmas" didn't work and mentioning Ukraine always ends up focusing on that thief Biden so Belarus is the best they can do this week.

They must be having trouble getting their "color revolution" up and running in Belarus.

[Mariner]

The term Belorussia (Russian: Белору́ссия, the latter part similar but spelled and stressed differently from Росси́я, Russia) first rose in the days of the Russian Empire, and the Russian Tsar was usually styled "the Tsar of All the Russias", as Russia or the Russian Empire was formed by three parts of Russia—the Great, Little, and White.[34] This asserted that the territories are all Russian and all the peoples are also Russian; in the case of the Belarusians, they were variants of the Russian people.[35]

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

I think the Dems are trying to stir things up in the Phillipines now. They wouldn’t allow Durbin and Leahy to enter

Philippines Bans Two US Senators, Considering New Visa Rules

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3803875/posts

[jospehm20]

I never thought about it before but I care even less about Belarus than I do about Ukraine.

[Mariner]

Another country in eastern Europe which was never really its own country until the Soviet Union made them a republic.

It was always part of Russia, or Lithuania or greater Poland etc.

But mostly it was just a part of Russia, not unlike Texas is to us.

[Husker24]

Didn’t they actually ask to be reunited with Russia at one point?

[wastedyears]

Who cares? Not our problem.

[Verginius Rufus]

I don’t know what the people of Belarus want, but the political leadership apparently has been very pro-Russian. Lukashenko has been in power since 1994 and from what I have read runs the country in an authoritarian way...so not much has changed since Soviet times apart from not having to spout Marxist-Leninist rhetoric. Both the Belarusian and Russian languages are official...the Belarusian language is close enough to Russian that some consider it a dialect of Russian. (Its version of the Cyrillic alphabet has two letters not used in Russian Cyrillic.)

[Trumpisourlastchance]

The NeoCons won’t let up. It will take a stake in the right place.

[Trumpisourlastchance]

NeoCons care. They will try to make it our problem.

[lodi90]

I believe Russians are generally happy. Belorussians are not. Something has got to give there. They do not have the big country super power mentality that Russians do. They also have a front row seat to the explosive growth the Baltics have had in the post soviet period. I expect sooner or later Putinist Russia will reel them in by force. Like Ukraine onne party state fascist Russia can’t have a western leaning and prosperous Belarus lest Russians notice the raw deal they are getting.

[Fiji Hill]

Annexing Belorus would give Russia a long border with Poland, a strong US ally. Currently the only Russian territory that borders Poland is the Königsberg enclave which is isolated from the rest of Russia.

[eddie willers]

I thought that this was a “This day in 1944” type post.

[Snook79]

Definitely not our hill to die on.

[Cowboy Bob]

How would annexing be much different than the relationship they have now?

[NorseViking]

“” “” Another country in eastern Europe which was never really its own country until the Soviet Union made them a republic.”” “”

The important point is that nobody is goint to annex it just like nobody was going to annex Ukraine.
If you are to look closer into the situation the protestors in Minsk are a bunch of 30 people and they have their standard posters like ‘stop Putin’, ‘no to Russian aggression’ written in English for some weird reason.
That’s a deliberate PR action aimed at foreign consumption to create fresh tensions as Ukraine starts to annoy.
The Russian-Belorusians union state is a concept stretching into mid-1990s and mostly mulled by the Belarusian president who had a certain cult among freedom-hating morrons in Russia who have seen Lukashenko as a perfect alternative to Yeltsin. Lukashenko nurtured the idea in hope to replace Yeltsin as a leader of both countries.
I don’t see it as practically impossible but I don’t think it is really on menu at this point.

[Mariner]

“How would annexing be much different than the relationship they have now?”

Believe it not the Belarussians would be living in a more open and liberal society than they do now.

[Mariner]

The point being is that if it happens it won’t happen with tanks.

It would be a purely political action.

[dfwgator]

Believe it not the Belarussians would be living in a more open and liberal society than they do now.

That wouldn't necessarily be a good thing. At least Lukashenko keeps the poison things from the West out, along with the Muslims.