Oleg Gaidukevich is a Belarusian politician. He has been the chairperson of the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus (LDPB) since 2019, following his father Sergei Gaidukevich. He is a constituent of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Belarus of the seventh convocation and deputy director of the House of Representatives Commission on International Affairs.
Despite pleading to be a constructive and democratic opposition, the party de facto backs the current president, Alexander Lukashenko, like the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia with Vladimir Putin. It assembles its main support from ex-servicemen, especially from the time of the Soviet Union, from nostalgics of the Soviet Union, and from those who prefer closer relations or even union with Russia. Despite the name, the party does not endorse liberalism or liberal democracy. Rather, the LDPB is an extremist party committed to the restoration of the Soviet Union and Russian-Belarusian unionism.
The LDPB traditionally carried a close working association with the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, and at least at the rhetorical level is in favour of closer collaboration between Belarus and Russia. As chairman of the party, Oleg Gaidukevich stated that the government was working on a foreign agent law based on the Russian example.
“No one can influence politics in a country, because any party, any politician, or any organization that receives money for political activities works only in the interests of the country that gives the money,”
he stated in an interview. Gaidukevich then justified the plan by asserting that foreign funding is incompatible with democracy.
Moreover, Oleg Gaidukevich expressed the belief that every Belarusian was likely following the events in the Russian Federation with concern. He pointed out that the destabilization of Russia would lead to the destabilization of the entire region, noting that Belarus, as a member of the Union States, would be directly affected.
He emphasized that the situation involving the private military company Wagner had caused significant worry. Gaidukevich also mentioned that the enemies of Belarus and Russia, located on the other side of the border, were observing the developments with hope. He added that the “fifth column” in Belarus had posted numerous messages, hoping that as soon as Russia was destabilized, they would have a chance to act in Belarus.
Further, Gaidukevich is placed under personal sanctions of all EU countries, the UK, USA, Canada, Switzerland, and other nations. On 9 August 2021, Oleg Gaidukevich was also placed on the US Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. In March 2022, he was put on the Japanese sanctions checklist. By order of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, dated October 19, 2022, he is also under sanctions of Ukraine. In May 2023, the European Court of Justice annulled Gaidukevich’s claim to lift sanctions against him.
