Might makes right. The West is unable to punish Lukashenko

Alexey Tsvetkov, poet, essayist

As I see, the people are seething with indignation over the seizure of the plane by Lukashenko. I hope few people doubt that I share this indignation.

But I am surprised to see that it is increasingly directed at Europe and America, which allow themselves to do so. That is, they will not cut the damn despot. And a lot of unflattering words are heard about this inaction, I will not list them here, some are completely ugly.

And so I want to ask the outraged public a question: what kind of reaction from the West would you like? Nuclear bomb to Minsk? An invasion of Belarus by NATO troops with the subsequent involvement of Moscow and a nuclear war? And if not, then what?

Let me remind you of an even more sad incident that happened in my memory. In 1983, the Soviet Union shot down a South Korean passenger airliner that had deviated from its course due to a navigational error. Killed 269 people, including the US Congressman. Let me remind you that at that time the leaders of the Western world were Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, who, in your opinion, were not current rags. And what measures were taken?

In short, apart from the obvious wave of indignation and condemnation, there are practically none, because there are simply no effective measures for such a case in the international arsenal. It was almost pointless to impose sanctions on the USSR with its autarchy. It was also pointless to discuss the issue in the UN Security Council (they tried) because the USSR had the right of veto, now inherited by Russia.

What is the difference between the then situation and the present one? Belarus is already imposed by sanctions, its economy is in a tailspin. You can try to aggravate these sanctions, but this will only aggravate the situation of the population. As for the dictator himself, I remind you that Belarus forms a single continental continuum with Russia, and although the latter now has an additional headache, it will not leave a friend in trouble and will provide him with vodka and cucumbers, and in case of urgent need, astronauts. She will not allow a second Ukraine, no matter how annoying such a friend may annoy her - for the bunker regime this is an existential question.

And now I am ready to listen to your suggestions.

Original is here.