DISCOURSE ON FOREIGN POLICY IDENTITY OF BELARUS (WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS)

The paper characterizes the discourse on foreign policy identity of Belarus during presidential election campaigns: the way in which political elites perceive Russia and Europe, as well as how they identify themselves in relation to foreign policy forces. The author analyzes the electoral cycles, namely the presidential elections in Belarus, according to 2 criteria: foreign policy orientation towards “one’s own” and resistance to threats from “others”. The study’s methodological innovation lies in its exploration of foreign policy identity, which is examined by the author through the lens of alternative strategies. These strategies encompass the predominant identification of the Republic with either Russia or Europe, as well as the discourse surrounding the perception of Belarus as a distinct civilization. The paper outlines various transformation stages of the foreign policy identity of Belarus. The author argues that Belarus’s foreign policy identity is shifting towards an alliance with Russia. The paper asserts that the actualization of the European vector of identity in the second half of the 2000s has led to an adjustment of foreign policy positioning, with a focus on its sovereignty and independence, whose threats are perceived both from the West and from the East. The current system of balancing between Belarus and the West and Russia was consolidated through the mediation of Minsk in the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis in 2014. By the middle of 2020s, the dominant strategy becomes to perceive Belarus as a separate civilization, while maintaining a strategic alliance with Russia.