The current leader constantly addresses the security forces.
In 2026, Alexander Lukashenko does not want to see any opposition to his person, and he plays out his vision of opposition politicians in skits, reports the "Belsat" channel.
Recently, at a meeting with Lukashenko, the "opposition politician" (as she called herself) Anna Kanopatskaya took the floor, and Lukashenko asked her: "Are you still in opposition? Come on, enough already..." This was allegedly said in jest, but it may actually indicate that he would prefer even that one politician who calls herself "opposition" to be on his side.
According to political observer Alexander Friedman, the emergence of figures like Anna Kanopatskaya is decorative and caricatured, and this is the maximum the regime is willing to go in terms of presenting "opposition" politicians.
"Such opposition can exist within the Lukashenko system. This is probably the maximum one can hope for. This is opposition in quotes, a completely caricatured story, where even those people who are on Lukashenko's side – even they probably find it strange and funny when Kanopatskaya comes out and emphasizes that she is an opposition politician," notes the interlocutor of "Belsat".
During his speech, Lukashenko addressed representatives of the security forces several times. He emphasized that the threats to national security are "many times greater" than ever before, which makes the role of the security forces even more significant.
"National unity, peace, security – these are the basic values that we are becoming increasingly aware of every day. And this is the result of the daily work of the security agencies, structures, and every employee in uniform," said Lukashenko.
The Belarusian leader also expressed satisfaction that "the people have stopped criticizing and hammering" the police and military, as they felt the need for them to ensure calm.
At the same time, he showed his dependence on them, beginning to justify himself for releasing some political prisoners. For this, he mentioned some survey conducted among representatives of the security forces. According to Lukashenko, the results showed that almost no one opposes the release of major opposition politicians from prison: "Only two or three of them said that they personally would not release these people, although the president is right," said the Belarusian leader.
Anna Kanopatskaya (1976) positions herself as an opposition politician to the ruling regime of Lukashenko. She was a member of the United Civic Party (UCP) from 1995 to 2019. From 2013 to 2016, she was the chair of the Minsk city organization of the UCP. Since September 2016, she has been a member of the party's Political Council, where she headed the commission for working with entrepreneurs.
On December 9-10, 2019, Kanopatskaya, along with the Belarusian delegation, visited NATO headquarters as part of the "Partnership for Peace" program. As a member of parliament, Kanopatskaya advocated for the termination of the treaty on the union state with Russia and criticized the then-Russian ambassador to Belarus. She was held administratively responsible for a solidarity action with political prisoners.
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