Get a new passport

The Belarusian opposition in exile is developing a project of an alternative passport, which will issue the Tikhanovskaya office. Skeptics doubt that they will succeed, but still hope for success

The issue of creating alternative passports began to be discussed among the opposition that left Belarus back in 2020 - primarily in the team of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. As conceived, such a document - a passport of New Belarus - could be useful to those who left the country without documents, or those who, for various reasons, were refused to help in consulates.

In September, the issue with documents became especially acute - Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree according to which Belarusians can only get a new passport at home. For those who at least “guilty” in front of Lukashenko’s regime, such a trip may be worth freedom. The correspondent of Novo-Europe Alena Itskova figured out whether the passport of the New Belarus could receive international recognition, as the Belarusians themselves relate to the initiative, and whether this project will become an example for the Russian opposition.

Return to your homeland for a passport

For the first time, problems with documents began to appear in Belarusians more than three years ago. Then, against the backdrop of protests that began in August 2020 after the presidential election, citizens began to leave the country massively due to threats of large-scale repression. To date, almost one and a half thousand political prisoners remain in Belarus.

Sometimes people left without documents, someone lost important papers in the process of numerous crossings. Some in immigration were born children, and the issue of legalization for families arose especially acutely: the Belarusian passport for the child was not issued at the consulate, and to receive it, it was necessary to go to their homeland, which was not always safe.

There were more and more people in a difficult situation, and they began to seek help from the headquarters of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the leader of the Belarusian opposition in exile. Against the backdrop of these events, the idea came for the first time to create an alternative passport for Belarusians, which need to confirm their citizenship abroad.

Initially, the document rather had a “symbolic” plan, said Tikhanovskaya herself in an interview with “Novy-Europe”. The team became seriously looking at the idea of ​​a passport after the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

Soon, the need for such a document by his actions was emphasized by Alexander Lukashenko. In early September 2023, he signed a decree according to which a new passport in return for lost or expired Belarusians will be able to get only at home. This decision was made with the aim of “optimizing” the work of diplomatic mission and consulates of the republic.

“Lukashenko played us to some extent, because now the question arose about the urgency of recognition of such a document, and [good] that we have already prepared for this,” Tikhanovskaya noted.

Negotiation negotiations

In order for the passport of the New Belarus to enter into legal force and become an official document, the Tikhanovskaya team will have to solve two fundamental tasks: to obtain a political recognition of this passport and ensure its production in accordance with all world quality and safety standards.

With the issue of production, the team managed to achieve significant progress. The Lithuanian private company agreed to engage in the manufacture of the document, said Valery Kovalevsky, a representative of the United Transition Cabinet for Foreign Affairs.

“Lithuanian manufacturers helped us introduce safety elements into this document,” Kovalevsky explains. - We have already passed the stage of approval of the document itself in accordance with all international standards. Now we are at the stage of production of samples. ”

The design of the passport was helped by an independent team from experts in the field of heraldry, history, philology and design. In the final version of the document on its pages, national symbols and monuments of architecture are placed, as well as the coat of arms of Pagon and the anthem of the Belarusian People’s Republic “We are released by the Schynyny Radami” ( “We will come out in dense rows.” - approx. Ed .). Two languages ​​will be used in the document: Belarusian and English.

Valery Kovalevsky told more about the design and safety elements of the passport safety this summer during the New Belarus 2023 conference. In particular, a hologram, watermarks, heat -sensitive ink will be used in the passport. It is planned to make the document biometric, with the collection of some biometric data. What kind of data will it be and how they will be collected - the team has yet to be decided.

In terms of political recognition of such a passport, everything will depend on the will of each individual country of the world. It is already evident that some European states are more positive than others related to the project of the Tikhanovskaya team. So, in the course of a recent meeting of the European Parliament, the Lithuanian Eurodspool Yuozas Olekas called to recognize the passport of the New Belarus.

The fact that the EU is aware of the importance of the problem was confirmed by another Lithuanian Euro -deputy, Andryus Cubillus. “In general terms on the EU side, there is an understanding that Lukashenko actually deprives the citizens of Belarus opposing his regime, their citizenship, and that it is necessary to find a solution for the legal status of these people,” he explained to New-Europe.

At the same time, it is too early to talk about the real and official recognition of the document.

Even if the euro deputies continue to publicly and during personal meetings to maintain this project, Brussels will not be able to take more decisive measures: the migration issue is in the jurisdiction of the national states.

This means that the Tikhanovskaya team will have to come to each state personally with a request for recognition. “On the one hand, this is not very good, since it increases the volume of work,” says Kovalevsky. - on the other, if we imagine that

In Brussels, such decisions are made by consensus, then this consensus is a rather fragile thing that can happen, or maybe not. ”

The Belarusian opposition has already managed to get some guarantees, albeit so far in words. One of the European countries agreed to share its three -letter country code, which is applied to the pages of the passport and determines the citizenship of the owner.

“The country code for us was critical moments in the project, because the Belarusian code - BLR - we could not take,” Kovalevsky explains. “After consulting with the experts of the European Commission, it turned out that this could be a country code of the third state.” As a result of negotiations, the team managed to find a country that agreed to share with the Belarusian opposition and a passport of New Belarus with its three -letter code. What kind of country is this a secret.

Why do you need new passports

At first glance, it may seem that there is no point in a separate document for Belarusians: there are states that a foreigner’s passport is issued, Laissez-Passer and other travel documents. But according to the representative of the Tikhanovskaya team, such documents cannot completely replace the national passport of a citizen of the country. It is not always possible to carry out a number of basic legal services, for example, open an account with a bank.

In addition, in order to get a foreigner’s passport in a particular country, it is necessary to have a number of documents confirming the right in this country to be. The passport of the New Belarus, as planned, will be replaced by the usual general national passport of a citizen of the Republic of Belarus.

“In a situation where the regime actually refuses to fulfill one of the main functions of the state - taking into account the population - we take this function to ourselves, no matter how difficult and resource -intensive,

- says Kovalevsky. It was important for us to show that people's problems are not empty and alien, we react to them. ”

Possible difficulties

The most difficult and fundamental problem of the passport of New Belarus, experts call his recognition, because this process is a whole series of bureaucratic subtleties and approvals. The former diplomat of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry and political analyst Pavel Slyunkin is skeptical of the project, although he wishes him success.

The fact that one of the European countries expressed a willingness to share with the team the Tikhanovsky country code, Slyunkin does not yet consider a victory. “I would like to see that they not only promised in words, but really shared this code,” he says.

At the same time, the analyst admits that he was a skeptic, even when Svetlana Tikhanovskaya created her office, but events developed differently. “Three years have passed, and she continues to meet with the leaders of the states,” says Slyunkin. - This is unique. The Belarusian opposition is one more. So skepticism is good, but politicians need to work in such a way as to show us that we were wrong. ”

The Belarusian political scientist Andrei Kazakevich, about a whole string of political approvals, as well as issues of verification and security related to the passport of the New Belarus. “The main problem is, of course, the recognition of this passport as a legitimate document,” the expert believes. -The current European legislation somehow binds a passport to some citizenship. This is the main difficulty. ”

In addition to the bureaucratic aspect, analysts have fears that the creation and approval of such a document will be an uncomfortable precedent for those states where people without documents live. “Belarus is not the only one in this sense, there are other dictatorial regimes,” Slyunkin recalls. “The question may arise: why can Belarusians be, but the rest is impossible?”

It may seem that a precedent of this kind is rather a positive phenomenon, because it could help tens of thousands of people without documents get legal status. But, putting himself in the place of the European bureaucrat, Slyunkin claims that this will not be a convincing argument.

The analyst is convinced that

Councils and bureaucrats will not want to make a decision that will add work to them. After all, the recognition of the passport of the new Belarus will mean that countries will have to amend internal legislation.

From the point of view of optimization, there are more effective ways to solve the problem of Belarusians without documents, says Slyunkin. For example, for some time, to recognize as valid passports with an expired validity period.

The third problem that has yet to be solved by the Belarusian opposition is the accuracy and reliability of the data on the basis of which new documents could be issued. In the summer of 2021, the Belarusian "cyberpartisans" hacked the country's database of the country, but since then the information received has not been updated. In addition, the very use of such a base raises a number of questions: who owns it, can this owner trust, is this data reliable?

How exactly the process of collecting applications and issuing ready -made documents will work is also clear to the end. The final decision on this subject can be voiced at a later stage, says Kovalevsky. According to the plan of the Tikhanovskaya team, one of its structures - a combined transition office - will create a network of offices, where Belarusians will be able to leave applications for a new document. Mostly these offices will be located in countries where the most fellow citizens live.

"Lukashenko factor"

In addition to support from some European countries, the team of the project to create alternative passports has another unexpected “supporter” - Alexander Lukashenko himself. Forbidding Belarusians to receive documents in consulates and embassies, he once again reminds European politicians that the Belarusian question is still very acute.

“I would not exclude the so -called Lukashenko factor, which, it seems to me, is the main manager of this project itself,” says Pavel Slyunkin. “He has repeatedly strengthened the position of this document with his decisions.”

At the same time, the Tikhanovskaya team is afraid that Lukashenko, taking into account his “vengeful nature,” may try to apply some sanctions against those states that will approve of a new passport, or citizens that will use it.

One of the ways to “take revenge” to the Belarusians for supporting a new passport may be a ban on receiving it,

He believes political scientist Kazakevich. Since the structures of Tikhalovskaya are recognized as an extremist formation in Belarus, the receipt of a passport issued by these structures can be considered a criminal offense. That is, people who will receive passports of new Belarus will understand that they will not return to the current Belarus.

"Everything that remains for you is to obey fate"

It is difficult to judge how the initiative relate to the initiative. Inside the country, sociological surveys do not give accurate results, because people can be afraid of pressure from the authorities and not to respond honestly. If you ask only those who left, then the sample itself will be unconstructive.

At the same time, according to personal estimates, most of the Belarusians who left for the idea of ​​a new passport were rather believed, says Pavel Slyunkin. Even those who are skeptical of the project from the point of view of its implementation still want everything to work out.

“Belarusians who live abroad hope that this idea will be realized and will allow them to solve issues with legalization,” says Slyunkin. -Because now Belarusians have almost no way to control something: they cannot elect the local government, they cannot elect the government in Minsk, cannot greatly affect what is happening in a democratic movement. All that remains them is simply to obey fate. ”

Support of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya among the Belarusian diaspora as a whole is quite large, Kazakevich notes. “More organizations both the old and the new diaspora are cooperating with Tikhanovskaya, participate in regular meetings and visits. In general, they see the meaning in this, ”he says.

"Passport of Democracy" for Russians

The Russians, unlike Belarusians, do not have such a figure as Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. The leader of the Russian opposition sits in a colony, and the rest of the actors have not yet been united for collective action.

But even the most organized activities of the Russian opposition do not go unnoticed in the European Union. Last month, as part of a report on the relations of Russia and the EU, a group of Eurodepa proposed creating a “democracy passport” for Russians in the exile.

Russian authorities quickly reacted to the idea. In particular, the speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova compared such a passport with the “Volcluster”, which in the Third Reich was given to those who cooperate with the German authorities.

“The Nazis rushed their own with German pedantry. For 80 years, they have not come up with anything new. The European Parliament proposed introducing "passports of good Russians" ",

-She wrote in her telegram channel.

Despite the gloating on the part of Russia, the project has a chance of success, according to political scientist Margarita Zavadskaya. “It seems that already in February-March 2024, some legal framework will be seriously discussed so that this passport has earned democracy,” she said to New-Europe.

The expert believes that the Russians may not need “their own Tikhanovskaya” in order for legal processes to work. “In order for the [Russians] there are documents, the opposition does not need to be one. We just need a group of competent people who could defend the interests of Russians. This does not have to be some kind of political force representing the new government of Russia in exile, ”says Zavadskaya.