The United States compared the protests in Belarus with rallies in other former Soviet republics: they are distinguished by the dominance of the”traditional flag”. This opinion was expressed by George Kent, Deputy assistant Secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs. His words are quoted by TASS.
According to him, EU flags and other national flags were used in Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, as well as in Ukraine.
“One of the most striking features of this protest compared to the protests we have seen in other post — Soviet countries is the Belarusian flag that dominates every protest-the white and red traditional flag,” the diplomat said.
Kent noted that this is a Belarusian discourse. “Feelings of social cohesion and unanimity come into play at the moment when Belarusians stood up, took to the streets peacefully and politely, collecting garbage, and asked for their voice to be heard,” he added.
The white-red-white flag was the state flag in Belarus in 1991-1995. Then, in a referendum, the majority voted to replace it with a red-green one, resembling the flag of the BSSR. The white-red-white flag is actively used by participants of mass protests that broke out in Belarus after the presidential election on August 9. Lukashenko, who took the presidential oath of office in 1994 under a white-red-white flag, believes that the flag is associated with the Nazis.
Presidential elections were held in Belarus on August 9. According to the CEC, Alexander Lukashenko, who ran for a sixth term, won 80 percent of the vote. This caused mass protests that have been going on for several weeks. The first actions were severely dispersed, and journalists, including those from Russia, were detained. They told about the beatings by the security forces.