![](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/region-europe.jpg)
Latest Articles about Belarus
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Alyaksandr-Lukashenka-and-A-Wess-Mitchell-EDM-November-8-2018-640x366.jpg)
Belarus Undergoing Serious Reassessment by US, Europe
If public statements recently made in and about Belarus were to be ranked in descending order of significance, the October 31 remarks by A. Wess Mitchell, US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, would arguably come out on top. “We understand the deep... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Belarusian-language-EDM-November-1-2018.jpg)
The Belarusian Language and the Question of National Identity: What Link?
Three habitual criticisms have long been leveled at Belarus: It is too authoritarian, too close to Russia, and both ills stem from over two decades of uninterrupted rule by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, “Europe’s last dictator.” “News” stories about his government being on the verge of... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Vladimir-Putin-and-Alyaksandr-Lukashenka-640x341.jpg)
Minsk Resisting Moscow’s Latest Scheme to Acquire Military Base in Belarus
A serious conflict has arisen between Moscow and Minsk over a proposed joint military defense strategy document. The Russian side declares that it will treat any attack on Belarus as an attack on itself (see EDM, October 23) and thus needs to have a Russian... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Kirill-and-Lukashenka-640x360.jpg)
Autocephaly of Ukrainian Orthodox Church Spotlights Belarus’s Growing Geopolitical Importance
Belarusian-Russian relations were marked by two major events in recent weeks: the October 12 bilateral summit in the Belarusian city of Mogilev (see EDM, October 16) as well as the October 15 meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), which was... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/1041788772-640x346.jpg)
Moscow’s ‘Article Five’ Guarantee to Belarus: First Step Toward Permanent Russian Base?
Mikhail Babich, Vladimir Putin’s newly installed ambassador to Minsk (see Commentaries, July 20; EDM, August 2, September 7), went on Belarusian television, on Sunday, October 21, where he declared that Moscow will view any attack on Belarus as an attack on Russia and will respond... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Belarus-and-Russia-twins.jpg)
Belarus Finds Itself Between a Rock and a Hard Place
The putative detachment of Belarus from Russia as well as a twin topic, the supposed annexation of Belarus by Russia, are never-ending refrains in both countries’ media. The former is predictably pursued by Russia’s media outlets, whereas the latter can generally be found by reading... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Russian-Flag-and-Orthodox-Church-640x320.jpg)
Putin May Try to Launch New Offensive in Ukraine and Absorb Belarus to Stop Autocephaly
The decision of Universal Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I to move toward granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (see EDM, September 13) is an existential threat to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his conception of a “Russian World” (“Russkiy Mir”). For one thing, the... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Kazak-money-640x346.jpg)
Western Sanctions Against Russia Leave Kazakhstan Exposed
Relations between the United States and Russia have continued to deteriorate in 2017 and 2018. In August 2017, US President Donald Trump signed into law a new bill called Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which extended the post-2014 Ukraine sanctions and enlarged their... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/azerbaijani-Arms-show.jpg)
Azerbaijan Hosts Defense-Industry Exhibition and Courts Multiple Defense Partners
On September 25–27, the Ministry of Defense Industry of Azerbaijan (MoDIAR) hosted the defense-industry exhibition ADEX-2018 in Baku, where leading defense companies from European and Asian countries showcased their latest military products (Mod.gov.az, September 25). ADEX turned out to be a useful platform to promote... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Vladimir-Makei-at-UN-640x480.jpg)
Belarus Asserting Its Own Voice at Home and Abroad
News that the United States is weighing the possibility of establishing a permanent military base in Poland as well as Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly have both elicited spirited debates inside Belarus, providing useful insight into how the... MORE