Political analyst Andrei Lazutkin brought up the events of 30 years ago on April 1, 2025, during the show “Political Science Made Simple” on CTV, while discussing the Union State of Russia and Belarus as an example of successful integration.
“In 1995, Lukashenko put the question of integration to a referendum. And it was decided by vote count, not by rallies and counter-rallies like on the Maidan. What’s more, the pro-Western forces at the time — including the BPF and Zianon Pazniak — accepted the results of those early referendums and acknowledged their defeat in Belarus,” Lazutkin said.
In reality, Zianon Pazniak, then leader of the largest opposition movement, the Belarusian Popular Front, criticized the referendum for numerous violations and described it as a manifestation of the foreign policy of Russia’s imperial circles, who were effectively waging an intense cold war against Belarus.
“Preliminary information we’ve received indicates that in the provinces and rural areas, the elections and the referendum vote were rigged. <…>
The first round of the election and the referendum vote clearly showed that the authoritarian power grab — essentially a coup — launched by the pro-communist presidential putsch on April 12, 1995, is ongoing. These people have trampled the law and morality and are bulldozing their way toward their goals by any means necessary,” the newspaper Svaboda quoted him as saying.
In 1995, Alexander Lukashenko initiated a referendum that included questions on economic integration with Russia, granting Russian the status of a state language, and bringing back the Soviet-era flag and coat of arms. Parliament approved putting the integration question to a vote but rejected all other proposals from Lukashenko, arguing they violated the Constitution. In protest, 19 BPF deputies, including Zianon Pazniak, went on a hunger strike and refused to leave the parliament building. However, that night, law enforcement officers forcibly removed the deputies from the building, beating them in the process. Afterward, the Supreme Council agreed to put all of Lukashenko’s proposed questions on the referendum ballot.
In 1996 and 1997, Belarusians took to the streets in large numbers to protest against integration agreements with Russia. During negotiations between Moscow and Minsk, eyewitnesses say the two sides ultimately settled on a watered-down version of integration. Lazutkin acknowledged this himself, but said the decision wasn’t driven by the protests.
“They immediately started pressuring Yeltsin, claiming that if integration went too far, Lukashenko might try to claim a share of power in the Kremlin. So the union treaty went through several drafts, each one scaling back the level of integration,” he said.
