Yury Shautsou: Searches are not linked with ideology
The fact that more people than forecasted by opinion polls and other surveys took to the streets on December 19 in Minsk proves the failure of the state ideology, reckons political analyst Yury Shautsou in an interview with Euroradio. On January 13, 1991, Soviet troops stormed the building of Lithuanian Radio and TV in Vilnius. Belarusian political commentator Yury Shautsou was in Vilnius on that day in 1991.
Euroradio: How did you happen to be there? Can you recall those events?
Shautsou: There were dozens of thousand of people, including myself. I was not near the building of television but near the TV mast which was stormed. I had just moved from Brest to Vilnius when everything began.
Euroradio: You ended up opposing the Soviet troops. How come?
Shautsou: I was not interested in Lithuanian politics. I just strongly objected to the Soviet authorities, mostly due to the Chernobyl tragedy. I considered then and I regard this policy now as criminal. It was natural and emotional back then. So, when I got an opportinity to transform my emotions into deeds, I grabbed the opportunity. I don't regret, actually.
Euroradio: What was your attitude toward the Soviet rule?
Shautsou: None. I was a very young man. I was 24. Could I really think about the authorities seriously? I read books, newspaper articles. I was hardly interested in ideological matters. But I was very frustrated with Chernobyl.
Euroradio: You were not interested in ideological matters?
Shautsou: More now. Actually, 20 years later.
Euroradio: A couple of days ago, you and Vadzim Gigin, the editor-in-chief of official magazine Belaruskaya Dumka (Belarusian Thought) who is often described as an advocate of authorities, took part in the roundtable meeting of official ideologists. You are called a pro-governmental ideologist. What is your attitude to this and to the ideology of the modern Belarusian state in general?
Shautsou: I treat the criticism from my opponents calmly. As for ideology, I can't really see ideology in Belarus. Perhaps, this is one of major probelms of this country that the system of values, which is developing with support from the state, is not clearly defined. It gives bigger opportunities for quick tactical moves. For instance, at some moment we normalize relations with the West, and then back to the opposite extreme. The lack of ideology helps perform political maneuvering. But, there is also a danger that society can get alienated as it happened in USSR.
Euroradio: You seem to be saying that ideology departments get their salaries in vain...
Shautsou: This is the ideological vertical of administration. It means that the major part of ideology workers by default implement orders from the top. They are not political actors in the usual sense of politicians. It would be wrong to expect initiatives from them. The problem is not with those people. The problem is that the leadership of this country unfortunately pays less attention than it should. The fact that on December 19 much more people than suggested by public opinion polls and other surveys took to the streets proves faults in the state ideology, in my opinion.
Euroradio: How could you describe the ongoing searches and interrogations by KGB?
Shautsou: Investigation is underway. Ideology has nothing to do with investigation. But what matters here is that a significant portion of people who came out on December 19 is not part of the structural opposition. They have protest sentiments, but those people were not inclined to active resistance. And, I think this is a fault of ideological work, because there are mechanisms to work with people and communities. There are media and the ideological vertical. This means their work was faulty since they allowed such big protest sentiments to develop.
Photo: Spravedlivost
Euroradio: How did you happen to be there? Can you recall those events?
Shautsou: There were dozens of thousand of people, including myself. I was not near the building of television but near the TV mast which was stormed. I had just moved from Brest to Vilnius when everything began.
Euroradio: You ended up opposing the Soviet troops. How come?
Shautsou: I was not interested in Lithuanian politics. I just strongly objected to the Soviet authorities, mostly due to the Chernobyl tragedy. I considered then and I regard this policy now as criminal. It was natural and emotional back then. So, when I got an opportinity to transform my emotions into deeds, I grabbed the opportunity. I don't regret, actually.
Euroradio: What was your attitude toward the Soviet rule?
Shautsou: None. I was a very young man. I was 24. Could I really think about the authorities seriously? I read books, newspaper articles. I was hardly interested in ideological matters. But I was very frustrated with Chernobyl.
Euroradio: You were not interested in ideological matters?
Shautsou: More now. Actually, 20 years later.
Euroradio: A couple of days ago, you and Vadzim Gigin, the editor-in-chief of official magazine Belaruskaya Dumka (Belarusian Thought) who is often described as an advocate of authorities, took part in the roundtable meeting of official ideologists. You are called a pro-governmental ideologist. What is your attitude to this and to the ideology of the modern Belarusian state in general?
Shautsou: I treat the criticism from my opponents calmly. As for ideology, I can't really see ideology in Belarus. Perhaps, this is one of major probelms of this country that the system of values, which is developing with support from the state, is not clearly defined. It gives bigger opportunities for quick tactical moves. For instance, at some moment we normalize relations with the West, and then back to the opposite extreme. The lack of ideology helps perform political maneuvering. But, there is also a danger that society can get alienated as it happened in USSR.
Euroradio: You seem to be saying that ideology departments get their salaries in vain...
Shautsou: This is the ideological vertical of administration. It means that the major part of ideology workers by default implement orders from the top. They are not political actors in the usual sense of politicians. It would be wrong to expect initiatives from them. The problem is not with those people. The problem is that the leadership of this country unfortunately pays less attention than it should. The fact that on December 19 much more people than suggested by public opinion polls and other surveys took to the streets proves faults in the state ideology, in my opinion.
Euroradio: How could you describe the ongoing searches and interrogations by KGB?
Shautsou: Investigation is underway. Ideology has nothing to do with investigation. But what matters here is that a significant portion of people who came out on December 19 is not part of the structural opposition. They have protest sentiments, but those people were not inclined to active resistance. And, I think this is a fault of ideological work, because there are mechanisms to work with people and communities. There are media and the ideological vertical. This means their work was faulty since they allowed such big protest sentiments to develop.
Photo: Spravedlivost
