Where is Lukashenka?

The Belarusians always feel when the president is not around. Even if they do not feel his absence, Lukashenka has not been in public for a lengthy period of time. On March 10 he went to take a rest and do skiing in the mountains of Sochi, but nobody has seen Lukashenka since his return.

All the president’s press office has to say about this is about routine congratulations from the president.

The artistes and sportsmen were the last people to see Lukashenka, when they were accompanying the head of the state to the Krasnaya Polyana skiing resort. However, they keep denying this fact. Here is what singer Iryna Darafeeva told the European Radio for Belarus in this regard:

- You are the last person who saw Lukashenka…
- Your information is not correct.
- What can you say about this?
- Nothing.

This is not the first time when Aliaksandr Lukashenka goes missing. Exactly one year ago, the president disappeared from television screens on March 20 after a news conference about the results of the presiedntial elections. He showed up back in public only on April 8, the day of his inauguration as the president. By the way, the inauguration was shifted from March 31. Lukashenka’s spokesman Pavel Liogki then told reporters that the president was busy with his paperwork. Back in public, Lukashenka looked tired and depressed.

The story repeats again this year. Pavel Liogki told Belapan news agency that nothing happened to the president. He was simply “receiving government officials with reports and working with documents.”

It is not clear which officials Lukashenka is receiving and which documents he is working with. But, it seems that those officials and documents are extremely important, as he canceled his visit to Vietnam on March 25-27 and “missed” the visit by the Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fadkov. Lukashenka also failed to show up at a hockey tournament, he himself sponsored.

On March 23, Philip Kirkorov visited Belarus. Prior to his visit, the singer announced that he wanted to meet with Lukashenka in order to sort out the financial matters associated with the production of a video for the Belarusian participant at the Eurovision singing contest. However, he failed to get an appointment with the president, apparently due to the officials and documents.

The European Radio for Belarus decided to look into the usual working schedule of the Belarusian president. In the period from March 1, Lukashenka has managed to give an interview to Al Jazeera, to hand out national awards, to take part in a sports skiing event, to visit the United Arab Emirates, to meet and congratulate the Belarusian women with Women’s Day on March 8, to make new staff appointments and sign  several decrees.

On March 10, Lukashenka was already in Sochi. According to rumors, Lukashenka could be injured when skiing in the Southern mountains. Anyway, we have not seen Lukashenka for 16 days.