Latest Articles about Belarus
HOW SECURE IS LUKASHENKA?
Having attained through dubious means another overwhelming election victory last March, and having amended the Belarusian constitution yet again so that there are no limits to his term in office, President Alexander Lukashenka appears to be more firmly in power than ever before. Yet there... MORE
VERDICT HANDED DOWN ON BELARUSIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
On July 13 a Minsk court sentenced former presidential candidate Alexander Kazulin to five and one-half years of confinement. The verdict, while unwarranted and harsh, also raises some questions about the outlook of the Lukashenka regime. Why was Kazulin singled out for such treatment at... MORE
INTEGRATION, RHETORIC, AND THE FUTURE OF BELARUS
As the United States and Belarus continue their war of words, accompanied by freezing the actual or imagined assets of each other's leading government figures, Minsk played host to a series of summits. At the same time, Belarus and Russia carried out the largest-ever joint... MORE
LUKASHENKA SEEKS TO REWRITE HISTORY BOOKS
On June 16, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka opened the new National Library in Minsk. Formerly located across the street from the president's residence, the new building, which resembles a space capsule, is located east of the city on the main road to Moscow and the... MORE
HOW “UNITED” IS THE UNITED OPPOSITION IN BELARUS?
The united opposition campaign during the 2006 Belarusian presidential election was a creditable effort, particularly in the weeks leading up to the vote as well during the protests afterward in October Square. Though hundreds were arrested, and the crackdown by the authorities is continuing, there... MORE
BELARUS: THE MYTH OF “PEOPLE POWER”
On May 23 Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka delivered a "state of the nation address" that was broadcast live on Belarusian TV and lasted a relatively modest 51 minutes. The speech was significant for being his first major post-election broadcast, and it provided some rationale behind... MORE
BELARUS SEEKS TO EMULATE GERMAN-GAZPROM DEALS
President Alexander Lukashenka's government in Belarus is drawing inspiration from German companies' emergent model of relations with Russia's Gazprom, a model blessed by the German government as well and antithetical to market economics. On May 17, top officials of the Belarus government and the state... MORE
IS AN ECONOMIC CRISIS LOOMING IN BELARUS?
Reports circulated on May 12 that, three days earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed a decree on fundamental changes in Russia's trade-economic and credit-financial policies toward Belarus. In turn, the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom reportedly plans a threefold rise in the price of gas... MORE
POLITICAL CONFRONTATION DETRACTS FROM ACUTE CHERNOBYL PROBLEMS IN BELARUS
As the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl approaches in Belarus, and the opposition forces plan a final protest march on April 26 in the aftermath of the presidential elections, there is no sign that the country has come close to overcoming the profound health, social, and... MORE
A WEAKENED LUKASHENKA STARTS THIRD TERM
On Saturday April 8, Alexander Lukashenka was inaugurated for a third term as president of Belarus, eight days later than originally scheduled and following the most controversial election campaign in the brief history of the independent country. The stability of his extended presidency rests on... MORE