Białoruś ofiarą ingerencji i wojny informacyjnej? Uwagi na temat stosowania pojęć prawa międzynarodowego
Belarus as a victim of interference and information war? Remarks concerning the use of notions of international law

Summary/Abstract: The author discusses accusations from the Belarus presidency concerning alleged interferences of Western states into the internal affairs of Belarus in referring 1) to the main relevant notions of international law and 2) to the last developments of information technology. The author focuses first on the distinction between non-violent interference and violent intervention, drawing the attention on the very restrictive way these notions are interpreted in favour of state sovereignty. One important exception is provided by the freedom of information which on the other side does not permit for political propaganda. Another terminological problem relates to the notion of “information war”. To an even greater extent, the notion is fluid and still changing, a fact resulting especially from the latest changes in information technology. One of these developments is the emergence of the so-called “cyberwar”. Almost all the traditional elements of war being part of European tradition of the last centuries don´t apply here anymore. There is no conscription of the fighters, no state training, no outer recognizability, not even any necessity to know the state´s language etc. Belarus accusations of information war may therefore be true from the perspective of the victim, but don´t fit into the actual situation characterized by a large privatization of the side of the “aggressor”, concerning even the decision to “declare a war” against another country.

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