Expert explains Lukashenko’s Oman, UAE visits
This opinion was expressed in a comment to Ukrinform by the Director of the Russian and Belarusian Studies Program at the Ukrainian Prism Foreign Policy Council Yaroslav Chornohor.
He noted that all of Lukashenko’s moves are aimed at finding ways for Belarus to survive economically and politically under European and American sanctions. And since “no one in Europe, except perhaps Hungary”, wants to deal with the Belarusian dictator, there are “certain opportunities” for Lukashenko in the Gulf, Africa, or Latin America.
"Lukashenko is looking for options to get out of isolation and improve the economic situation for his regime. Visits to Oman and the UAE are just an attempt to expand cooperation with countries that do not adhere to democratic norms and procedures and take no account of the nature of Lukashenko's regime, and he is trying to make some kind of business out of it," Chornohor noted.
He stated that traditional ways of attracting funding are impossible for Lukashenko as he cannot take loans, and no sane investor will be interested in Belarus at the moment.
"And depending exclusively on Russian or Chinese money is a vulnerable position for Lukashenko. Therefore, he is looking for options where he can sign some contracts, agreements, or memorandums," the expert noted.
According to Chornohor, the Belarusian dictator seeks to sell chemical, mechanical engineering products, food, and light industry products to these countries, and in return attract finance and investments to Belarus.
The expert also stated that the possibilities of circumventing sanctions for the Belarusian and Russian dictators are narrowing, and thanks to cooperation with Oman and the UAE, both Belarus and Russia might succeed to this end.
“Today, Moscow Mayor Sobyanin is visiting Minsk, and he is negotiating cooperation there. For Lukashenko, this (cooperation with Oman and the UAE, - ed.) is an additional trump card in relations with Russia. His value to the Kremlin may increase thanks to such contracts,” predicted the pundit.
In addition, Chornohor noted, such wealthy Gulf states as Oman and the UAE are investing heavily in high tech, and this is also an additional opportunity for Lukashenko to gain access to it.
At the same time, the expert noted that the agreements reached on cooperation will be quite difficult to implement in full due to the complexity of logistics – either fast but costly shipments by air, or cheap but overly long sea transportation.
In this context, Chornohor recalled that Lukashenko had many agreements on cooperation with African countries, but due to geographical distance, "some things are difficult to implement."
As reported by Belarusian state media, Lukashenko came to the UAE on a working visit, where the main focus was on developing cooperation in trade, economic, investment, humanitarian, and other areas. On December 22, a meeting between Lukashenko met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
Prior to arriving in the UAE, the Belarusian dictator visited Oman.
As reported earlier, the Central Election Commission of Belarus has registered Alexander Lukashenko as a candidate for president of the country in the upcoming "elections".
