Tsar Putin supports merger of Russia and Belarus

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/putin-supports-merger-russia-belarus-163217872.html;_ylt=AnxJLZ3lHNsDkV54TawE7YZ0bBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTM5cTZlcWk3BHBrZwM5Yzg3N2FmMC1mZGQ4LTNlNWYtODg5Ny01NzMwODY3YjBiNzMEcG9zAzEEc2VjA01lZGlhVG9wU3RvcnkEdmVyAzExM2YyOTQwLWJjNWMtMTFlMC04Y2Y3LTdjMGRlM2Q1NWM5Mg--;_ylg=X3oDMTFxNGdmMG5kBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAN3b3JsZHxldXJvcGUEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3

AP – 24 mins ago

SELIGER LAKE, Russia (AP) — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says he supports calls for Russia to merge with its western neighbor Belarus.

Belarus has been an independent state since the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991.

Speaking at a Kremlin youth camp, Putin said Monday the return to Soviet-style unity is "possible, desirable and wholly dependent on the will of the Belarusian people."

Russia and Belarus already have open borders, with their citizens able to travel freely and seek employment in either country.

Authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is a fierce defender of his country's sovereignty.

But Belarus is mired in its worst financial crisis since independence, and Lukashenko is under pressure to sell key parts of its industry to Russians in exchange for a bailout.

[eekee 182]

eh I first read about this possibility in the Economist in like, 1998.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

eh I first read about this possibility in the Economist in like, 1998.

It's getting to be crunch time for Lukashenko. He's running out of options, and the Kremlin mafia is putting the squeeze on him. If he sells out Belarus it will be trading one dictatorship for another.

[eekee 182]

I'd rather live under Putin than Lukashenko. I mean I already do, but you get my drift. My grandparents and their friends all sat around New Jersey for forty years waiting for Belarus to no longer be Soviet... and what Belarus ended up with is worse.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

I'd rather live under Putin than Lukashenko. I mean I already do, but you get my drift. My grandparents and their friends all sat around New Jersey for forty years waiting for Belarus to no longer be Soviet... and what Belarus ended up with is worse.

The better of two evils? Belarus doesn't have to live under either brainwashed Stalin wannabee dictator. Belarus is a sovereign nation with it's own borders, history, and language. No reason it has to be under the repressive Russian boot once again.

Here's Tsar Putin in the news yesterday giving a speech to his NaSSi Hitler Youth Brigade. Nothing like a good dose of brainwashing to keep them happy.

http://news.yahoo.com/putin-says-u-parasite-global-economy-191447751.html

Putin says U.S. is "parasite" on global economy

Edited August 2, 2011 by Why_Me

[Brad and Vika 129]

eh I first read about this possibility in the Economist in like, 1998.

But the story then was that Belarus would be annexed, and become a Russian vassal state, right? It wasn't any sort of real partnership. I heard Luka's government would be out.

[slim 1,525]

Nobody ever wants to give up their power. Nobody!

[Brad and Vika 129]

Nobody ever wants to give up their power. Nobody!

I was told that Lukashenko thought that a reunification right after Yeltsin was put out would allow him to have a shot at the whole country. He actually thought he might get to run Russia. What a laugh. That was around when Putin offered to annex Belarus or something. I doubt Luka has raised the issue since then.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

I was told that Lukashenko thought that a reunification right after Yeltsin was put out would allow him to have a shot at the whole country. He actually thought he might get to run Russia. What a laugh. That was around when Putin offered to annex Belarus or something. I doubt Luka has raised the issue since then.

Luka is between a rock and a hard spot. He either hands over Belarus to Russia and forfeits any power he currently holds, or he let's Belarus slide into an even deeper hole of disparity which means a possible over throw of his government...then he's really screwed. The third option is he gives up power for honest elections which means a pro West government and his eventual trail for murder charges unless he can find a country that won't extradite him.

[slim 1,525]

He either hands over

Or he continues to rule with an increasingly iron fist.

[eekee 182]

Brad, I imagine it would become the Belarusian Republic like the other various republics in Russia.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Brad, I imagine it would become the Belarusian Republic like the other various republics in Russia.

Which is another name for "Kremlin Vassal State".

[Brad and Vika 129]

Or he continues to rule with an increasingly iron fist.

If I were a bettin' man...

Brad, I imagine it would become the Belarusian Republic like the other various republics in Russia.

Right, meaning Luka retires. It seems he has zero inclination to do that so far. Maybe it is an American prejudice, but I cannot imagine any country giving up its sovereignity. Free gas and oil can't mean that much.

[AmyWrites 593]

I have to agree with eekee. They have few choices here, but I don't see how it would be a vast improvement.