Vladimir Makei
Владимир Макей
Уладзімір Макей
Makei in 2014
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
20 August 2012 – 26 November 2022
PresidentAlexander Lukashenko
Prime MinisterMikhail Myasnikovich
Andrei Kobyakov
Syarhey Rumas
Roman Golovchenko
Preceded bySergei Martynov
Succeeded bySergei Aleinik
Personal details
Born(1958-08-05)5 August 1958
Grodno Region, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
Died26 November 2022(2022-11-26) (aged 64)
SpouseVera Polyakova
Children2
Alma materMinsk State Linguistic University
Military service
Allegiance Soviet Union
 Belarus
Branch/service Soviet Army
Belarusian Armed Forces
RankColonel

Vladimir Vladimirovich Makei (Russian: Владимир Владимирович Макей; Belarusian: Уладзі́мір Уладзі́міравіч Маке́й, romanized: Uladzimir Uladzimiravič Makiej; 5 August 1958 – 26 November 2022) was a Belarusian politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus from 2012 until his death in 2022.

Early life and education

Vladimir Makei was born on 5 August 1958 in Grodno Region, Byelorussian SSR.[1] He graduated from the Minsk State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages in 1980.[2] He served in the Armed Forces of the USSR and in the Armed Forces of Belarus after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He retired in 1993 as a colonel.

Career

Makei served in the ministry as secretary of several departments: Information and Humanitarian Cooperation, Analysis and Forecast, Office of the Minister and State Protocol Service. From 1996 to 1999 he worked in the Belarusian embassy in Paris as a counselor. From 2008 to 2012 he was President Alexander Lukashenko's Chief of Staff.[1] Since 20 August 2012 he had been Minister of Foreign Affairs.[1] In January 2011, Makei was blacklisted by the European Union following the presidential election and the subsequent protests; however, the ban was lifted a year after Makei's ministerial appointment in order to ease diplomatic contancts with Belarus.[3]

During the 2020 Belarusian protests, Makei said at a meeting in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that everyone who disagrees with the state policy should leave the ministry. He also forbade the staff to participate in protest activities.[4][5] Two employees who made a picket with blank sheets of paper were fired within a week (one of them told journalists that he was fired for "gross violation of his duties").[6] In February 2021, Makei accused diplomats of calling for unrest and posting "anti-state" information.[7] On April 10, 2021, Makei threatened that civil society in Belarus “will cease to exist” in the case of tougher sanctions.[8]

During his tenure as a Chief of Staff, Makei oversaw the governmental cooperation with the British PR firm Bell Pottinger.[9] Mikalai Khalezin, director of the Belarus Free Theatre, claimed that Makei was responsible for trying to discredit his theatre for Khalezin's anti-Lukashenko activities.[10] About a week before the 2010 election, Makei accused the Belarusian opposition of preparing armed provocations.[11] Pavel Latushko, former ambassador to France and Poland, claimed that Makei expressed anti-Russian views in front of European and American diplomats, but after the 2020 elections he made a volte-face.[12] Valery Sakhashchyk, a former Belarusian military officer serving in the United Transitional Cabinet stated that Makei, though having been “deformed by years of service to Lukashenko”, was "undoubtedly some kind of bridge with the West".[13]

In June 2022, Makei was added to the Canadian sanctions list.[14]

Personal life

Makei spoke Belarusian, Russian, German, and English.[15]

Death

Makei died in office on 26 November 2022, at the age of 64.[16] Makei was not known to have had a chronic illness, and Belarusian authorities did not state his cause of death.[17][18][19] According to the Belarusian independent weekly newspaper Nasha Niva, he died of a heart attack.[20] He was given a state funeral on 29 November 2022 which was attended by Lukashenko in the Central House of Officers; he was buried in Minsk's Eastern Cemetery.[21]

Allegations of unnatural death

In February 2023, Nasha Niva presented evidence with a claim that Makei had taken his own life four days after returning from a Collective Security Treaty Organization summit in Armenia accompanying representatives of Vladimir Putin.[22][23] The newspaper’s sources claimed that he had been denied attention from President Alexander Lukashenko, had realized that he was due to be replaced soon, and that “after his heights, he did not see himself anywhere else.” Furthermore, he was rumored to be having marital problems with his wife, Vera Polyakova. Further conspiracy theories persisted that Makei was poisoned by the Russian officials while attending the summit. Belarus has refused to disclose full details of Makei’s death, other than to suggest he suffered a heart attack.[24]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Belarusian foreign minister Vladimir Makei passes away — BelTA". TASS. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  2. ↑ "Биографии Юрия Жадобина, Вадима Зайцева и Владимира Макея". naviny.by. 15 July 2008. Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  3. ↑ Гаджиев Мовсун (25 June 2013). "Приоткрытое окно в Европу для белорусского чиновника" (in Russian). The New Times. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  4. ↑ "Пикет на лестнице: два представителя МИД Беларуси поддержали протесты, несмотря на угрозу увольнения". www.eurointegration.com.ua (in Russian). Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  5. ↑ Сотрудник МИД, который вышел на пикет, уволен по статье
  6. ↑ "Сотрудника МИД, вышедшего на пикет, уволили по статье". Наша Ніва (in Russian). Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  7. ↑ "Макей: некоторые послы стран ЕС в Беларуси размещают посты конкретной антигосударственной направленности" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  8. ↑ "Purge of human rights organizations and other civic groups forces them to go underground or in exile". Front Line Defenders. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  9. ↑ Kovalev, Alexey (30 August 2020). "Guys, get out. How British spin-doctors and Boris Berezovsky tried to help Alexander Lukashenko win over the West". Meduza. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  10. ↑ "Халезин: Макей — это тот человек, внутри которого борются две сущности, из которых неизменно побеждает худшая" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  11. ↑ "Белорусская оппозиция готовит "вооруженные провокации"". Obozrevatel (in Russian). 12 December 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  12. ↑ "Латушко: Неоднократно присутствовал на переговорах, когда Макей говорил об угрозах со стороны России" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  13. ↑ Higgins, Andrew; Kurmanaev, Anatoly (29 November 2022). "A 'Bridge to the West' Dies in Belarus, as Moscow Seeks More Help in Ukraine". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  14. ↑ "Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Belarus) Regulations: SOR/2022-167". Canada Gazette. 25 June 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  15. ↑ "Minister and Deputy Ministers". Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  16. ↑ "Belarus foreign minister Makei dies". Reuters. 26 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  17. ↑ Belarus' foreign minister, Vladimir Makei, dies aged 64 but cause of death unknown ABC News 27 November 2022
  18. ↑ Belarusian foreign minister Vladimir Makei ‘suddenly dies’ aged 64: No cause of death has yet been mentioned by Belarus state media Lamiat Sabin, The Independent, 26 November 2022
  19. ↑ Belarus' top diplomat, ally to president, dies at 64 Washington Post/Associated Press, November 26, 2022
  20. ↑ "V Bělorusku pohřbili ministra Makeje. Přišel Lukašenko, nepřišel syn - Novinky".
  21. ↑ "Макей похоронен на Восточном кладбище в Минске". 29 November 2022.
  22. ↑ "Імаверная прычына смерці Уладзіміра Макея — суіцыд". Nasha Niva (in Belarusian). 19 February 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  23. ↑ "Belarusian foreign minister died by suicide after meeting Putin's officials: report". MSN. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  24. ↑ Farberov, Snejana (21 February 2023). "Belarusian foreign minister died by suicide after meeting Putin's officials: report". nypost.com. New York Post. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  25. ↑ "УКАЗ ПРЭЗІДЭНТА РЭСПУБЛІКІ БЕЛАРУСЬ1 сакавіка 2006 г. No 136" (PDF). pravo.by (in Belarusian). 1 March 2006. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  26. ↑ "УКАЗПРЭЗІДЭНТА РЭСПУБЛІКІ БЕЛАРУСЬ26 лістапада 2018 г.No 462" (PDF). pravo.by (in Belarusian). 26 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
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