Latest Articles about Belarus
INDEPENDENCE DAY MARCH TURNS VIOLENT IN MINSK
Independence Day commemoration took place in Minsk last Saturday, March 25, despite the lack of permission from the authorities. Riot police under Special Forces chief Colonel Dzmitry Pawlichenka used tear gas and mock grenades to disperse the crowd. Mass arrests resulted later in the day,... MORE
BELARUS: END GAME
Five days after the presidential election of March 19, protesters continued a vigil on October Square. The authorities arrested more than 250 people between March 20 and 22, and administered beatings to many others, and in the early hours of March 24, hundreds of riot... MORE
OFFICIAL MINSK IS PREPARING FOR A COUP
The Belarusian authorities have exacerbated the tension surrounding the 2006 presidential election campaign by declaring that the opposition plans an uprising on Sunday, March 19. KGB chief Stsyapan Sukharenka has warned that any demonstrations will be regarded as acts of terrorism. Participants could theoretically be... MORE
BELARUS ELECTION CAMPAIGN TURNS VIOLENT
Belarusian authorities have made some concessions to the opposition during the presidential election campaign, but they have also used violence and provocations to ensure that there are no surprises on March 19. The violence began on February 17, registration day for presidential candidates. A scuffle... MORE
HOW THE BELARUS ELECTION WILL BE WON
The Central Election Commission in Belarus announced on February 17 that four candidates have been officially registered for the presidential election of March 19. These include: President Alexander Lukashenka; leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Syarhey Haidukevich; and two opposition candidates, Alexander Kazulin of the... MORE
ENERGY DILEMMA FOR BELARUS
On January 24, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Constantine Palace near St Petersburg prior to a session of the Russian-Belarusian Supreme State Council. Lukashenka remarked that the integration process between the two states had taken on an irreversible... MORE
SCAREMONGERING AND SCARED PEOPLE: THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN CONTINUES IN BELARUS
The campaign to collect signatures for the remaining seven candidates in the Belarusian election (Alyaksandr Voytovich has dropped out of the contest) is in full swing. Each candidate needs to gather at least 100,000 signatures of support to be eligible for the March 19 vote.... MORE
EIGHT CANDIDATES SEEK BELARUS PRESIDENCY
On December 16, deputies of the Belarusian House of Representatives agreed unanimously that the date of the 2006 presidential elections in Belarus would be March 19. The date took many people by surprise, because it had been widely anticipated both within and outside the country... MORE
BELARUS FACING SEVERE DEMOGRAPHIC PROBLEMS
The image of Belarus propagated for domestic consumption by the authorities is one of relative prosperity, civil peace, and stability. However, that image is increasingly belied by the evident failure to take adequate measures to offset a looming demographic crisis. According to some analysts, the... MORE
AMENDMENTS PROPOSED TO CRIMINAL CODE IN BELARUS
The Lukashenka government in Belarus has taken several steps to ensure that there are no unexpected setbacks in the 2006 presidential election campaign. On November 23, the president proposed several amendments to the Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure that, if accepted into law,... MORE