When Belarus’s authoritarian ruler, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, goes to ski in Russia, it is rarely just for a nice vacation. The southern Russian resort town of Sochi, planned site of the 2014 Winter Olympics, is a favored spot for Belarusian and Russian officials to gather and discuss bilateral relations in a relaxing setting. Lukashenka’s trip to Sochi last month was no exception, with official Belarusian media duly reporting that his time on the slopes would be combined with a working visit.
However, even those images meant a great deal to a keen observer. They indicated that the relationship between Belarus and Russia is on the rise. The two countries’ bond has faced a number of ups and downs since Vladimir Putin came to power in Russia in 2000, suffering from periodic trade wars, oil and gas disputes, and mutual smear campaigns by state-controlled media. The latest in a series of media attacks occurred in 2010, when Russia’s NTV aired the documentary Krestniy Batka (Godfather), which was highly critical of the Belarusian president. Curiously, the first several parts of the documentary were broadcast just before the December 2010 presidential election in Belarus. Some observers suggested that the Kremlin was finally fed up with Lukashenka and would support one of the alternative candidates.
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