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The death of the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry - why is it important?

Ukraine (bbabo.net), - The sudden death of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, was shocking for many, both in the republic itself and abroad. With the name of the Belarusian diplomat, who was in office for more than 10 years, many associated not only the foreign policy activities of the state, but also its internal course. Therefore, the death of one of the pillars of the Belarusian vertical of power has become one of the most significant events in the life of Belarus in recent times.

It should be recalled that throughout his administrative and diplomatic career, Vladimir Makei has always stood out from the total number of Belarusian officials, although his biography could seem to many standard for the post-Soviet period. In 1980, he graduated from the then Minsk State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages, after which he served in the Armed Forces of the USSR and Belarus. The latter was repeatedly pointed out by many opponents of the Belarusian minister, believing that during his service he could be associated with the Soviet and then even Russian special services, although no one has ever been able to present any facts confirming this.

Makei's career as a diplomat began in 1993 after he graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the Austrian Foreign Ministry, after which until 2000 he held various positions in the Belarusian Foreign Ministry in the western direction of his work. For example, since 1996, Makei has been a representative to the Council of Europe, an adviser to the Belarusian embassy in France, and also the head of the pan-European cooperation department. It should be noted that this was the period when serious contradictions began between the official Minsk and the West, connected with the domestic policy of Alexander Lukashenko.

The confidence of the Belarusian leader in Vladimir Makei ultimately led to the fact that from 2000 to 2008 he was his assistant, and later, until his appointment as head of the republic's Foreign Ministry, he led the administration of the head of state. And in each of the positions, claims from Alexander Lukashenko to Makei were not openly sounded. Even during the period of serious reshuffles in the government of the republic over the past ten years, when four compositions of the Council of Ministers have changed, the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry remained the same. According to analysts, this was due to the fact that having quite good relations with representatives of the EU and the USA, Vladimir Makei was actually the main bridge between the official Minsk and Western countries, through which bilateral contacts were made and relations developed for many years. The head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry paid special attention to the Western direction, trying not to interfere in the integration processes of Belarussia, as well as cooperation between Minsk and Beijing, where the main role was and remains the role of Alexander Lukashenko and his personal relations with the leaders of these countries.

The personality of Vladimir Makei and his activities, indeed, have borne fruit for Belarus. With his arrival to the post of head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry in 2012, a long and serious process of warming began in relations between Minsk and the West. In 2013, personal EU sanctions were even lifted from Makei, which meant that Brussels was ready to talk with him and establish contacts with the Belarusian authorities through the Foreign Ministry. Subsequently, it was with his direct participation that numerous sanctions were lifted from the republic, and the country was actively involved in the work of various European programs, including those related to the development of civil initiatives. This allowed many to call Vladimir Makei a "pro-Western" politician, although in fact it was only the desire of some European officials and representatives of the Belarusian opposition, who saw him as their supporter. The Belarusian minister himself never declared his pro-Western sentiments and always followed in line with the foreign policy doctrine defined by Alexander Lukashenko. Moreover, Makei constantly emphasized that the development of relations with the West should proceed without dictate and pressure, and noted that Belarus was not going to deviate from its policy of rapprochement with Russia, including within the framework of the Union State. True, in 2019, it was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that became one of the critics of Mikhail Babich, appointed to the post of Russian Ambassador to Minsk, which, however, did not seriously affect the development of Belarusian-Russian relations.Such a position of Vladimir Makei as head of the Foreign Ministry, which fully fit into the framework of the multi-vector foreign policy of the republic, seemed to many in Belarus sufficient to consider him one of the most liberal officials in the country. This, in turn, aroused sympathy for him even among the local opposition, where the minister's love for the Belarusian culture and language was especially emphasized. In particular, Vladimir Makei has repeatedly appeared in public in an embroidered shirt, organized diplomatic meetings with foreign representatives, where he spoke the Belarusian language, and even participated in the opening of the VII Congress of Belarusians of the World in July 2017, which was organized by opponents of the Belarusian authorities.

In addition, in 2020 it became known that in recent years, officials appeared in the Belarusian Foreign Ministry who did not agree with the policy pursued within the country. After the riots that broke out that year, diplomats began to leave the Foreign Ministry of Belarus, and some ambassadors directly went over to the side of the opposition, which caused serious discontent of Alexander Lukashenko. In July 2021, when mass protests were suppressed, the Belarusian leader said at a meeting on foreign policy priorities that not all employees who are the “face” of the Foreign Ministry show the best qualities, and some are completely “morally decomposed.” The Belarusian leader then said that some heads of foreign missions had gone over to the side of the "rebels", naming specific names. Among them were former ambassadors to Argentina (Vladimir Astapenko), Spain (Pavel Pustova), Slovakia (Igor Leshchenya), Latvia (Vasily Markovich), as well as heads of foreign missions in Switzerland (Pavel Matsukevich), Dubai (Igor Bondarev) and, of course, ex-Minister of Culture and former diplomat Pavel Latushko, who today from abroad is throwing mud at the authorities of the republic and in fact calls for direct intervention in Belarus.

The events of 2020 radically changed not only relations between Belarus and the West, but also the rhetoric of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. The foreign ministry of the republic began to react much more harshly to attacks from the EU and the USA, accusing the once Western partners of trying to organize a coup d'état in the country and an open anti-Belarusian policy. This was also manifested in the actions of Makei, who increasingly began to talk about the desire of the West to organize a “Ukrainian scenario” in Belarus. At the same time, the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry did not stop trying to restore Minsk's ties with Brussels until the very end.

One of the brightest actions of the Belarusian minister was his closed letter, sent in early April to EU diplomats, in which the Belarusian minister noted that EU sanctions “hit ordinary people”, and a new “witch hunt” was launched against the republic within the framework of international organizations. In the message, Makei rejected “any insinuation that Belarus is somehow involved in the hostilities in Ukraine” and called for “abandoning accusations and labeling, inflammatory rhetoric and unilateral restrictions and rethinking the paradigm of the future relations between Belarus and the EU and European security” . In addition, he suggested "turning to diplomatic tools to restore dialogue, which is the only means to find a way forward in any circumstances." However, at that time, the EU completely ignored the call from Minsk, although later Makei noted that he saw among Western politicians a desire to find ways to establish a dialogue. And all the activities of the Belarusian minister, right up to the last day of his life, were somehow connected with minimizing the negative consequences of EU and US pressure on Belarus and finding an opportunity to resume constructive negotiations.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that despite the actual break in political relations between Western countries and Belarus, almost all foreign embassies in the republic, including the European Union and the United States, expressed their condolences in connection with the death of Vladimir Makei. In particular, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau and Secretary General of the organization Helga Schmid said they were deeply shocked by the death of the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, recalling that “we were looking forward to his presence at the meeting of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers” 1— December 2 in Poland, where Warsaw refused to let the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. As it became known later, instead of Vladimir Makei, the Permanent Representative of Belarus to the OSCE Andrey Dapkyunas went to the meeting.At the same time, the sudden departure from the life of Vladimir Makei caused a very inadequate reaction among the Belarusian opposition, where they suddenly forgot about everything that the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry was previously praised for. So, ex-presidential candidate of Belarus Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said that “in 2020, Makei betrayed the Belarusian people and supported tyranny, and this is how the Belarusian people will remember him,” while “we will continue to defend the independence and freedom of Belarus, regardless of changes surrounded by Lukashenka. Pavel Latushko went even further, saying that Vladimir Makei was responsible for the “repressions” in 2010, and in 2020 he “participated in a propaganda campaign” before the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine and “as part of an organized criminal group” arranged “artificial” migration crisis on the borders of Belarus and EU countries. Moreover, Latushko decided to stoop to personal insults, calling the possible reason for the death of the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry that he “tried to find a way out of a difficult psychological state” in alcohol. Such comments perfectly characterize those who are so eagerly striving for power in Belarus, making overt hypocrisy and aggression the main principles of their activities.

They could not pass by the tragedy in Ukraine, where they decided to use it to increase Russophobia in the region. According to Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, “Makei could have been poisoned, because he could become Lukashenka’s successor and was one of the few in the leadership of Belarus who was not under the influence of Russia.” At the same time, he believes that the "murder" of the Belarusian Foreign Minister "may be a warning to Lukashenka himself." And there are quite a lot of such strange and conspiracy theories today both in the West, and in Ukraine, and among the Belarusian and Russian opposition. They all come down to one thing - the death of Vladimir Makei was not accidental and is a signal for the top leadership of Belarussia. At the same time, no clear explanations or evidence for such theories, of course, are given, which speaks of their ordered nature with only one task - to sow confusion in Belarusian society and destabilize the situation in Belarusian-Russian relations.

It is currently unclear who will take the place of Vladimir Makei as head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. A variety of assumptions are being made, ranging from his deputies and diplomats working at various international platforms, to representatives from the country's state security sphere. However, given the importance of such an appointment, it is unlikely to be expected in the near future.

Minsk will face the difficult task of finding someone to talk to in the West, as the leadership of Belarus still considers it important to maintain contacts with representatives of the EU and the United States, at least from the point of view of ensuring national security. This means that the country's new foreign minister will not only have to preserve everything that was done before him by Vladimir Makei, but also try to build a new system of relations with the West that would not contradict the current policy of the country's top leadership.

The death of the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry - why is it important?