Minimising Dissensus: The Belarusian Opposition and PiS-led Poland in EU Policy on Belarus

This article investigates how the Belarusian democratic opposition and Poland under the Law and Justice party (PiS) functioned as dissensus minimisers in the European Union’s (EU) policymaking on Belarus between 2020 and 2025. Drawing on Coman and Brack’s concept of dissensus and introducing the notion of threatening dissensus - internal EU divisions perceived by external actors as undermining normative coherence - the study examines how these actors worked to sustain the EU’s principled position of disengagement with Lukashenka’s regime and support for Belarusian civil society. Using a multi-method design, including combining elite interviews and participant observation, the article identifies three primary roles performed by the Belarusian opposition and PiS: relational leaders, intermediaries, and ideational translators. It demonstrates how these actors strategically bridged normative and pragmatic cleavages within the EU, reframing democratic values in terms of security, migration, and geopolitics to engage ideologically diverse audiences. The article highlights the crucial role of marginal actors in mitigating internal EU disagreements and preserving the coherence of its normative foreign policy.