Alexey Valeryevich Dzermant (sometimes published as Derman, also Dermant or Dzermanis; ; born , in
Talgar
Talgar (, ; ) is a town in Almaty Region, southeastern Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of Talgar District. The town is located between Almaty and Esik, 25 km from Almaty and several kilometres east of Birlik. Population:
...
,
Almaty Region
Almaty Region ( ), formerly known as the Alma-Ata Region until 1993, is a region in Kazakhstan, located in the southeastern part of the country. It surrounds, but does not include, the eponymous city of Almaty. Its capital is Qonaev.
Geography
...
,
Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic
The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Kazakhstan, the Kazakh SSR, KSSR, or simply Kazakhstan, was one of the transcontinental country, transcontinental Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Un ...
,
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
) is a Belarusian philosopher, journalist and political observer, characterized in non-governmental media as a pro-government political analyst.
Until the early 2010s, he was an activist of the
neo-pagan movement;
[''Марзалюк І.А.'' Міфы "адраджэнскай" гістарыяграфіі Беларусі: манаграфія. — Магілёў: МДУ імя А.А.Куляшова, 2009. — С. 45–47.] currently he is an Orthodox Christian.
Biography
In 2001, Derman (later Dzermant) graduated from the
Academy of Administration of the Republic of Belarus, and, in 2006, he continued his education at the Institute of Philosophy of the
National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB; ; , , ) is the national academy of Belarus.
History Inbelkult - predecessor to the Academy
The Academy has its origins in the Institute of Belarusian Culture (Inbelkult), a Belarusian acade ...
. Between 2008 and 2009, he taught at the
European Humanities University
European Humanities University ( (ЕГУ/EHU), (EHU), (ЕГУ/EGU)) is a private, non-profit liberal arts university founded in Minsk, Belarus, in 1992. Following its forced closure by the Belarusian authorities in 2004, EHU relocated to Viln ...
. In 2007 he began working as a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.In the early 2000s, Dzermant was actively involved in Belarusian neo-paganism. Together with , he published the magazine Druvis. Dzermant also published the almanac Siver and was one of the founders of the neopagan
ultra-right organization Gega Ruch, which was compared to the
Ahnenerbe
The (, "Ancestral Heritage") was a pseudoscientific organization founded by the ''Schutzstaffel'' in Nazi Germany in 1935. Established by ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler in July 1, 1935 as an SS appendage devoted to promoting racial the ...
. ("Gega Ruch" referred to its ideological predecessor, the of the 1930s, which was oriented towards the
NSDAP
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...
). Dzermant was also an active member of the center of ethnocosmology KRYUJA (). He defended the
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
*Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
nature of the Belarusians and widely used the name Kryvia to refer to Belarus.
In particular, in 2002, he stated that the Belarusians (Krivichi) are Slavic-speaking Balts and the third Baltic people.
Dzermant took a critical position with regard to the Eurasian choice for Belarus. In a discussion in the magazine "Baltic Sphere" in 2007, he stated, "It is clear that Belarus is a European country, not Eurasian", and proposed two paradigms of self-determination for the republic: through the
Central/Eastern European and Baltic (Baltic-Scandinavian) orientation. In 2012, during the roundtable "The Disintegration of Russia: Threats and Strategies for Regional Security," he called the Eurasian Union "more of an economic election declaration," with no prospect of real content.
In the 2010s, Dzermant's views underwent a significant shift. According to philosopher
Vladimir Mackiewicz, Dzermant defected "to the pro-Russian camp from a marginal group of Baltic pagans" and became a "shifter.
After changing his views, Dzermant repeatedly advocated for the integration of Belarus and Russia.
In 2016, Dzermant met in Minsk with the leaders of the Italian neo-fascist party
New Force and the right-wing
British National Party
The British National Party (BNP) is a Far-right politics, far-right, British fascism, fascist list of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and is led by Adam ...
,
Roberto Fiore
Roberto Fiore (born 15 April 1959) is an Italian far-right politician and convicted criminal who has been the leader of the party, Forza Nuova, since its foundation in 1997, as well as president of the Alliance for Peace and Freedom since 2015 ...
and
Nick Griffin
Nicholas John Griffin (born 1 March 1959) is a British far-right politician who was chairman of the British National Party (BNP) from 1999 to 2014, and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England from 2009 to 2014. Follow ...
.
In the summer of 2020, he suggested that the one-time deterioration in the quality of drinking water in Minsk could have been sabotage. He called for introducing a state of emergency, canceling the elections, and engaging in a large-scale purge of the "fifth column." From June to August 2020, amidst worsening Belarusian-Russian relations,
[Казус Дзерманта: «Троянский конь» на русском экспертном поле Белоруссии](_blank)
/ref> he maintained a cautious stance. However, a few days after the elections, he announced the need to abandon a multi-vector foreign policy and completely refocus on Russia.
In February 2021, Dzermant advocated for banning the white-red-white flag
The white-red-white flag is a historical flag used by the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918 before Western Belarus was occupied by the Second Polish Republic and Eastern Belarus was occupied by the Bolsheviks (two years later becoming the ...
.
On 19 November 2023, Dzermant stated that Lithuanian capital city Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
is a "Belarusian city". He criticized emigrated Belarusian politicians, accusing them of favoring "Lithuanian chauvinists" and failing to defend Belarusians interests. Dzermant asserted that the Belarusian national movement in Lithuania should be organized and led by new leaders.
Public activities
Dzermant is the editor-in-chief of the Internet porta
imhoclub.by
and a member of the Scientific and Expert Council under the chairman of the board of the Eurasian Economic Commission. He is also an expert of the Belarusian pro-presidential Republican Public Association "Belaya Rus", the Russian-Belarusian Expert Club, and the project "Citadel".
In 2020, he became the head of the Center for the Study and Development of Continental Integration "Northern Eurasia". Together with and Alexander Shpakovsky, he participated in the Sonar 2050 project, which, according to political scientist Sergei Bogdan and philosopher Vladimir Matskevich, was funded by the Russian Presidential Administration
The Presidential Executive Office, Russia ( PEO, Russia) or the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation (; АП РФ, ''AP RF''), or PARF, is the executive office of the president of Russia created by a decree of Boris Yeltsin on ...
.
Dzermant is one of the initiators of the "Friends-Syabry" community, which consists of Belarusian and Russian journalists. He is also a member of the Friends Club of the Russian Gorchakov Foundation.
Performance reviews
A number of sources note Dzermant's principled pro-government and conformist stance, which some describing him negatively as a propagandist.
In 2017, Euroradio described Dzermant as "an ardent defender of the 'Russian world
The "Russian world" () is a concept and a political doctrine usually defined as the sphere of military, political and cultural influence of Russia. It is a vague term, mostly used to refer to communities with a historical, cultural, or spirit ...
, "Nasha Niva" as a "pro-Russian blogger". Ilya Azar
Ilya Vilyamovich Azar (; born June 29, 1984) is a Russian journalist, special correspondent for Novaya Gazeta since 2017, former special correspondent for the online publication Lenta.ru, and a former special correspondent for the Meduza projec ...
, a journalist for the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta
''Novaya Gazeta'' (, ) is an independent Russian newspaper. It is known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs, the Chechen wars, corruption among the ruling elite, and increasing authoritarianism i ...
, referred to Dzermant as "almost the only public person in Minsk with pro-Russian views." The Regnum Regnum may refer to:
* Latin for kingdom or dominion, see realm
* ''Regnum'', Latin word for Kingdom (biology)
* REGNUM News Agency, a Russian news agency
* '' Champions of Regnum'', a computer game
* An online database for PhyloCode
The ''Intern ...
news agency also noted Dzermant's scandalous image.
The ISANS Analytical Center mentioned Alexey Dzermant and Alexander Shpakovsky as active figures in pro-Russian organizations in Belarus. According to hacked correspondence of publicist Alexander Usovsky, Dzermant received funding from Russia. However, , one of the authors of imhoclub.by, claimed that the correspondence was falsified as part of a discredit campaign organized by the Ukrainian special services due to their refusal to change the editorial policy of imhoclub.by.
Awards
* Special prize for finding the value foundations of Eurasian integration in a book from the Eurasian Development Bank
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international development finance institution investing in the development of the economies, trade and other economic ties, and integration in Eurasian countries. The EDB was founded in 2006 and is head ...
.
* "Golden Bison" from the Russian-Belarusian community of journalists and experts "Friends-Syabry"
* Acknowledgement and Certificate of Appreciation from the
* Honorary diploma of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB; ; , , ) is the national academy of Belarus.
History Inbelkult - predecessor to the Academy
The Academy has its origins in the Institute of Belarusian Culture (Inbelkult), a Belarusian acade ...
for the active promotion of ideas of interethnic and interfaith unity in the media, strengthening the Belarusian statehood.
* Acknowledgement of the President of the Republic of Belarus
The president of the Republic of Belarus is the head of state of Belarus. The office was created in 1994 with the passing of the Constitution of Belarus by the Supreme Council. This replaced the office of Chairman of the Supreme Council as the ...
for his significant contribution to the implementation of the state policy aimed at protecting the sovereignty, ensuring stability and security of the Republic of Belarus, and consolidation of the Belarusian society.
References
External links
Биографическая справка на сайте davedka.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dzermant, Alexei
Politics of Belarus
Belarusian political scientists
Belarusian philosophers
Living people
1979 births