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

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

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

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

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

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

Three legal trials in Minsk attracted maximum attention during the middle of February. One of them has already ended with a verdict—two-year prison sentences to Katerina Bakhavalova and Darya Chultsova, journalists of Belsat, a digital TV channel broadcasting from Poland and not accredited in Belarus.... MORE

The disastrous visit to Moscow of the European Union’s top diplomat, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, on February 4–6, followed in quick succession by three major international events last week, together served to illuminate Russia’s resolute but hopeless self-isolation on... MORE

Foreign policy featured among the central topics of the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly (ABPA), on February 11–12 (see EDM, February 16). This is no surprise, as the ongoing political crisis, which broke out following the August 2020 presidential election, has had a disruptive impact on the... MORE

President Alyaksandr Lukashenka delivered a four-hour speech on February 11, 2021, at the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly (ABPA), the sixth such gathering since 1996, when Lukashenka skillfully used this extra-constitutional entity to defeat a rebellious parliament. At that time, Lukashenka enjoyed the support of well over... MORE