Lukashenko? No Wait, Poroshenko? 'The Economist' Mixes Up Two Leaders

A cartoon published on the Economist, displaying this week’s reconciliation talks on the Ukrainian crisis that took place in Minsk, confused Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko with Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus.

The drawing shows Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and the fourth man, who looks like Lukashenko with the Belarussian leader’s trademark moustache and a hat that reads “Ukraine”. The author clearly wanted to portray Poroshenko; however, he muddled up the two Eastern European leaders.

The mix up of the leaders of Ukraine and Belarus shows that average folks in the West have little understandng of the Eastern European politics. For them, Poroshenko, Lukashenko, Tymoshenko and Yushchenko might as well be the same person.