Belarus has welcomed over 2,500 European visitors since implementing a visa-free entry system for 35 European countries on July 19th, 2024, according to the Belarusian State Border Committee. TV “Belarus 1” news anchor Katerina Tikhomirova reported on August 28th, 2024, that these visitors are particularly enthusiastic about local foodstuffs.
“This is a real taste shock when you first come to Belarus. Not in favor of European politicians, who should've been investing in their citizens’ well-being rather than putting money into demonizing citizens of other countries,” the anchor commented, showing two short videos seemingly depicting foreigners’ reactions to Belarusian food.
“Why is the food in Belarus so delicious?! I literally started praying in front of the shelf with cottage cheese. All the other fruits, vegetables,” a blond young man lists in Russian. “Well, we [probably, in the EU — ed.] have tomatoes for 2 euros, which are with pesticides, all sorts of chemicals... You can get cancer of everything, and die. It's a kind of food for poor people, whom nobody cares about. And there are tomatoes for 5 euros of super good quality for rich people,” he finished.
The second video clip showed a girl eating a wafer bar “Vitba” and a candy “Lyubimaya Alyonka”.
“Alyonka candies. Has anyone ever tried these? Oh my god, it's so delicious,” she raved in Polish.
The Weekly Top Fake team investigated the identities of these supposed foreigners. We made screenshots of the people in the video and used photo searches to find information on them from public sources. The girl is named Anna; she's not Polish. In a TikTok video, she explains her untypical Polish pronunciation:
“I'm Belarusian, I live in Warsaw. It's obvious I have an accent,” Anna said.
Further investigation revealed that the young blond man, who was portrayed as a foreigner in the “Belarus 1” story, is actually blogger Ilya, a Belarusian national
In his TikTok videos, he states he is from Belarus and is currently studying in Europe.
