Belarus and Kazakhstan: Regime durability, claims for legitimacy and external influence

Belarus shares some features of non-competitive authoritarian regimes but is closer to being a competitive authoritarian regime. The cult of personality is much less present in Belarus than in Kazakhstan. Availability of huge sources of income not directly connected to the economic activity of the population of the country is one of the major enablers of the longevity of both regimes. Though Kazakhstan is not less but rather more authoritarian than Belarus, it has never faced similar pressure from the EU as the one applied to Lukashenka’s regime Attempts at democratization by the EU have been almost absent in Kazakhstan and largely unsuccessful in Belarus.