A summit gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) took place from August 31st to September 1st 2025, marking 1 year since Belarus became a full associate of the organisation. The event received extended coverage in the Belarusian state media, which focused heavy on Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s diplomatic activity. During the summit, Lukashenka not only attended the military parade in Beijing commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War, but besides held a series of bilateral meetings with leaders from China, North Korea, Turkey, Azerbaijan, India, Indonesia, the Republic of the Congo, and Slovakia.
Overall, in the propaganda messages distributed by Minsk, Belarus’s choice of an “eastern” vector has been presented as a civilizationally fundamental decision. The turn to the East is intended to show that Lukashenka understands the Zeitgeist and possesses a imagination for a new, multipolar planet order. He besides hopes to show he understands Belarus’s function in it, which is that of a guarantor of stability, not only in the region but also, erstwhile needed, on the global stage. To advance this image, the country promotes the alleged “Minsk Platform”, which it uses as a vehicle for dialog and conflict resolution. From now on, 1 of the main routes in this eastward journey, as Belarusian officials suggest, goes through the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
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