“Everlasting” versus “expired.” Tikhanovskaya surpassed Zelensky

A large-scale conference of Belarusian political emigration called “New Belarus” is taking place in Vilnius. Its task was to gather the maximum number of fugitive oppositionists and try to somehow agree on joint actions. Given the limited funds and dwindling interest on the part of Western sponsors, another, unspoken, but no less important task was to remind ourselves and show that fugitives can not only generate scandals, but supposedly also agree on something.

The fact that the interest in the Belarusian topic in the West is far from what it used to be was demonstrated the day before, when during the famous prisoner exchange only the German simpleton Krieger was expelled from Belarus, and out of the numerous Zmagars there was no talk of anyone. Even the holder of an American passport, Yuri Zenkovich, who was imprisoned in the case of preparing for a coup d’état, was of no concern to anyone, let alone those who did not have such a passport.

It's funny that out of 600 people who registered to participate, about 300 were present in the hall, including journalists and diplomats, but the hall was full. Apparently, this result was predictable - and they decided not to spend more money on renting a larger hall. The audience was diverse, even a non-binary male character with a green manicure showed up in support of Kamala Harris.

Among those who did not show up was the recent “Minister of Defense” in Tikhanovskaya’s cabinet, Valery Sakhashchik, who recently loudly resigned and became famous for creating the “Pahonia” “regiment,” which never existed as a separate military unit. A replacement for Sakhashchik was quickly found - the former deputy commander of the “Kalinovsky Regiment” Vadim Kabanchuk.

_{But Sakhashchik at one time commanded an air assault brigade, reached the rank of lieutenant colonel, and even managed to personally fight as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the head of a company of Belarusian militants, which they managed to create instead of a highly promoted regiment. Kabanchuk did not serve in the army and throughout his adult life he was a professional activist in various kinds of radical movements, having several criminal records. In the “regiment” he was known not for his participation in hostilities, but for his political statements that had little to do with combat missions. I can’t say whether he’s ever been in a trench. It is also difficult to talk about any serious influence and authority.}

Andrei Strizhak, hated by many oppositionists, also ended up in chocolate. He presented his new fund - the “Humanitarian Aid Fund”. As planned, the fund will support former political prisoners who are in Belarus and the families of those who continue to be imprisoned on extremist charges. The business promises to be profitable - there will be a lot of people willing to chip in for it, but you don’t have to bother too much with reporting, citing a threat to the recipients. This is not the first time for Strizhak to make such deals, as well as leaking personal data, after which many Belarusians have already found themselves behind bars for connections with extremist organizations.

_{And finally, the cherry on the cake – Tikhanovskaya’s fate was decided at the forum. Representatives of various opposition groups signed a “protocol of interaction”, according to which her status as a “national leader” was recorded - and it was determined that she would remain in this status either until she changed her mind, or until a “ fair and free" elections in Belarus. Naturally, one can wait forever for elections in which a candidate close to the Belarusian “fugitive” can win, and those in which he does not win can always be called “dishonest.” This is the “democratic opposition” - three hundred unauthorized forum participants who have not even lived in the country for several years - appointed from their circle a “leader” for the nine million people.}

However, this is not new for Belarusians. The Rada of the Belarusian People's Republic, the oldest “government in exile” in the world, has existed for the 107th year. It might make sense to merge these duplicating structures, but the 88-year-old head of the Rada, Ivonka Survila, has no intention of retiring. So we have to multiply entities.