Thread: Putin's increasing police state and smth about some other countries

Originally Posted by Hanna

Are there oligarchs in Belarus, or not?

I can report from Belarus (I am currently there!) that as far as I can see, Gomel is in a very good shape.

Everything is in good state of repair. Additionally, this might be the safest country in Europe (unless you are a political dissident...) Plenty of shops, restaurants, cafes etc. Things are in better shape than Ukraine (outside of central Kiev) and certainly than Moldova.

No beggars or super-poor babushkas like I saw in Ukraine - older people look much better off.

Hanna, I'd really like you (sure if that's possible) to take a trip deep in the country (somewhere far from big cities) and report on what you see there. That's what's gonna be really interesting to know as in cities they're obviously gonna try everything they can to make you think life there is a paradise...

Originally Posted by Eric C.

Hanna, I'd really like you (sure if that's possible) to take a trip deep in the country (somewhere far from big cities) and report on what you see there. That's what's gonna be really interesting to know as in cities they're obviously gonna try everything they can to make you think life there is a paradise...

Eric, you drive me crazy! I don't think any officials etc in Belarus care what I think about how the country looks. Where do you get all your misinformation from? Fox News? 1950s spy novels? This is very obviously a modern country that's taken an ever-so-slightly different road politically, than Ukraine and Russia.

1) Belarus is a free country - I can do what I like here for as long as my visa lasts (it's for 3 months). Including visiting poor villages. I would visit a village if there was some good reason to do that - but villages are tight-nit communities and it would be pretty weird if I just turned up to "check it out". Maybe there is some handicraft village or something like that, that I could visit.

2) Obviously I am aware that the countryside of the entire CIS area is poor by Western standards. One of the main good points about the current Belarussian leadership, is that they have managed to keep rural villages in a better shape than they are in in Russia or Ukraine. That's why Lukashenko keeps getting re-elected, because poor and old people support him.

Belarussians, correct me if I am wrong, but that's my impression.


And are there oligarchs in Belarus? Does anyone know?

Originally Posted by Hanna

And are there oligarchs in Belarus?

Belorussian oligarchs are poorer than Russian oilgarchs.