![](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/region-europe.jpg)
Latest Articles about Belarus
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Lukashenko-in-Baku-640x322.jpg)
Lukashenka Visits Azerbaijan After Belarus Protests and Karabakh War
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka paid a two-day visit to Baku, Azerbaijan, over April 13–14. The trip had initially been scheduled for late 2020, but it was postponed due to two significant events (Azertag.az, April 14; Belta.by, April 15). First, the August 2020 presidential election protests... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Alyaksandr-Lukashenka-talks-to-reporters-about-alleged-coup-plot-640x359.jpg)
An Alarming Twist in Belarus’s Political Crisis
The socio-political conflict in Belarus has the potential to grow even more acute, even though street rallies have all but disappeared and the authorities have, for several months now, pursued a harsh counter-offensive. Those arrests and firings continue. Thus, in Grodno, Andrzej Pisalnik, the secretary... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Belarusian-Embassy-in-Warsaw-EDM-April-12-2021-640x427.jpg)
Minsk Wages Diplomatic War on Multiple Fronts
On April 4, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka proposed to “optimize” the number of Belarusian embassies and their staff around the world. Essentially, the Belarusian leader declared, if Belarus’s “diplomatic presence” in some countries has no “prospects” because of a minuscule volume of mutual trade and/or because... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2020-08-26-belarus-flag-protest-640x361.jpg)
The State of Disunion in Belarus
The key descriptor for Belarusian society at the moment may be “disintegration.” Namely, Belarusians appear not to see eye to eye on three major issues. One is their attitude toward President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s leadership and legitimacy. The second is geopolitical lean: whether toward Russia or... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Mozyr-640x548.jpeg)
Ukrainian Dependency on Belarusian Fuels in Light of the Belarus Sanctions Debate
As Russia appears to be escalating the war in eastern Ukraine (see EDM, March 11), the debate in the West on possible sanctions against Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s regime goes on. One of the potential actions presumably under consideration may be the imposition of an... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Khatyn-commemoration-with-Alyaksandr-Lukashenka-640x360.jpg)
Belarus’s Ties With the West: The Implacable Downward Spiral
Belarusian authorities denied the official request of the opposition (see EDM, March 17) to celebrate Freedom Day on March 25. A year ago (April 2020), the government declared that anyone petitioning for the right to hold a public gathering would first have to attain consent... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Belarus2-640x480.jpg)
Parallel Worlds in Belarus’s Public Politics
Signs of the Belarusian government’s rising self-confidence in the face of domestic protests and Western reproaches have been multiplying in recent weeks. First of all, arrests of opposition activists continue. Thus, on March 16, the authorities in Minsk apprehended two women, 32 and 42 years... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/freedom-day-640x480.jpg)
Reshaping Belarus’s Political Scene
Four recent events have the potential to affect the ongoing evolution of the Belarusian political scene. First, on March 6, the founding congress of the pro-Russian party Soyuz (Union) took place in Minsk with 135 participants. So far, even the government itself does not have... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Belarus-640x426.jpeg)
Revolution, Counter-Revolution and Social Cohesion in Belarus
Three interrelated factors continue to shape Belarus’s future: the actions and initiatives of the political regime, prospects of the protest movement, and the evolving social climate. Alluding to the French Revolution, Valer Karbalevich, a Minsk-based analyst of Radio Liberty, describes the current situation in Belarus... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Putin-Lukashenka-Sochi-summit-February-2021-640x446.png)
Sochi Summit Contra the West’s Belarus Policies
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka landed in Sochi, Russia, on Friday, February 19, and left on Tuesday, February 23. His meeting with President Vladimir Putin occurred on Monday and lasted six hours, following a joint skiing escapade. The two heads of state also talked on the... MORE