DISINFO: Lithuania and Poland are competing for the destabilisation of Belarus to please the US
SUMMARY
Lithuania has been in a competition with Warsaw for the leading position to not only destabilise Belarus but also to destroy the unity between Russia and Belarus. This competition is important for Lithuania and Poland because they understand that the new US President Joe Biden supports the struggle against the Russian influence. Who will win the competition, will get the biggest dividends [from the US].
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation narratives portraying Lithuania and Poland as vassals of the US and about Western attempts to organise a coup or colour revolution in Belarus.
The protests in Belarus erupted to contest the results of the presidential election on the 9th of August 2020, which were not monitored by independent experts, and are largely considered fraudulent by both international observers and a big part of the Belarusian society. On 19 August 2020, the European Council called Belarusian elections neither free nor fair.
Lithuania and Poland are not trying to destabilise Belarus or destroy its unity with Russia. However, both countries have openly supported civic society in Belarus following the recent turbulent events. For example, in mid-August 2020, Lithuania opened a humanitarian corridor for politically prosecuted Belarusians. In December 2020, the Lithuanian Government also decided to issue Lithuanian national visas free of charge to regime-persecuted Belarusians.
See earlier similar disinformation cases alleging that Poland and Lithuania are destabilising Belarus to turn it into a Russophobic limitrophe, that the West needs Belarus as a springboard to attack Russia or that Poland and Lithuania are directly supervising the coup in Belarus.