London spin doctor helps Europe’s 'last dictatorship'
Published 30 July, 2008, 12:56
The man often referred to as Europe’s last dictator, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, has turned to one of Britain’s best PR gurus to brighten his image. Lord Timothy Bell, who helped Margaret Thatcher win seve
Lukashenko has been President of Belarus since 1994, permanently criticised by Western powers. He’s under a visa ban from the U.S. and the EU. And U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described Belraus “the last remaining true dictatorship in the heart of Europe”.
Now he is rumoured – in some of the British media – to have hired the best of the best to work on his country’s image in the world.
Global Insight analyst Natalia Leschenko, a native from Belarus who even devoted her PHD to Lukashenko, explains why now:
“The situation for Lukashenko has started changing in early 2007, about a year and a half ago so he did have some time to think. He started some very slow rapprochement with Europe, he probably got good signs from the Union unlike from the United States, so he feels there is a possibility and is doing everything he can to exploit it to the full.”
Peter Hitchens, a columnist of The Mail on Sunday, went to the capital of Belarus, Minsk to research a story on how a tyrant was attempting to transform into an ally of the West. What he found was unexpected.
“You see almost the children’s picture book version of what the Soviet Union would have been like if they could have made it work. The place has been washed. It looks in Soviet terms pretty good. And if you didn’t know that it was quite a dangerous tyranny, you wouldn’t immediately be able to spot it,” he said.
And although, Peter says, there is plenty to fix in the way the country is run – he says, PR still stands a chance.
“What any PR man given the job of selling Belarus would say is: Hey, look, there are lots of other countries which are run by people who are not necessarily entirely democratic which actually get on perfectly well with the West,” Hitchens said.
Lord Tim Bell, who as the British media say is a key figure in this new PR campaign, is best known for his advisory role in Margaret Thatcher’s three successful UK general election campaigns. He advised her on interview techniques, what to wear and even her hairstyle.
And although he has a number of controversial clients – like for example Boris Berezovsky, the Russian oligarch wanted by Moscow – he doesn’t seem to think that will get in the way.
“He’ll take on anything, nothing and nobody could threaten him, his self-confidence is immense and he will certainly make him controversial and whether he is going to succeed in getting Belarus to be seen as he would like to be seen – that’s not quite certain,” states David Wynne-Morgan, President of Pelham PR.
When RT got hold of Lord Bell, he declined to speak on camera and wouldn't confirm the claims of being behind the PR campaign.
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