Latest Articles about Belarus
EU Extends an Olive Branch to Belarusian Leaders
On October 13 the foreign ministers of the 27 member-states of the European Union met in Luxemburg and agreed to lift sanctions on travel for 36 high-ranking members of the Belarusian government, including President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, for a trial period of six months. The decision... MORE
BELARUS PRESSURES EU FOR CLOSER TIES
After the parliamentary electionscin Belarus on September 28, both President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his close ally, Lidziya Yarmoshyna, Chairperson of the Central Election Commission, have stated that they expect the EU to lift sanctions against Belarus’s leaders and develop closer relations. On the face of... MORE
BELARUS PREPARES FOR PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
Preparations for the parliamentary elections scheduled for September 28 are well under way. Chair of the Central Election Commission Lidziya Yarmoshyna has declared that the election is intended to "smash stereotypes" about Belarus (Moscow Times, September 14). Although some opposition parties are taking part, Charter... MORE
BELARUS RESPONDS CAUTIOUSLY TO GEORGIAN CRISIS
One of the interesting features of the Russia-Georgia conflict has been the sluggish support Russia has received from its allies. Perhaps most notable has been the reaction in Minsk, where the government of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has acted ambivalently and still appears to be vacillating... MORE
LITTLE CHANCE FOR THE DISORGANIZED OPPOSITION IN BELARUS PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
Elections to the House of Representatives, the lower house of the two-chamber parliament, are to be held on September 28 in Belarus. As with previous election campaigns, there is intense international interest in the nature of the campaign, how democratically it will be conducted, and... MORE
ASSESSING THE TERRORIST EXPLOSION IN MINSK
At 12:30 A.M. on July 4, when thousands of Minsk residents were attending a concert to commemorate the official Independence Day (July 3) near the monument to the "Hero City," a bomb exploded injuring 54 people. President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who designated July 3 as the... MORE
BELARUS-RUSSIA SUMMIT: PERSPECTIVES
The press services of the presidencies of Russia and Belarus have announced that the leaders of these countries, Dmitry Medvedev and Alyaksandr Lukashenka, will meet in Brest on June 22. It will be the first bilateral meeting of the two presidents. Reportedly, the meeting is... MORE
LUKASHENKA SPEECH DENOUNCES OPPOSITION, WARNS THE U.S.
On April 29 Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka delivered a speech to the National Assembly on the "health" of the state that was wide ranging and more than two hours in duration. Although the speech covered a number of topics, its chief interest lies in his... MORE
CHERNOBYL DISASTER IS OFFICIALLY OVER
Approaching the 22nd anniversary of the nuclear accident at the Chernobyl plant in northern Ukraine, which will be commemorated in Belarus by the opposition with a march through Minsk on Sunday, two Belarusian scientists have firmly reiterated the official government position that irradiated territories no... MORE
AN OPINION POLL IN BELARUS REVEALS SKEPTICISM AMONG THE PUBLIC
Belarus has attracted international attention recently for all the wrong reasons: attacks on demonstrators, arbitrary arrests, searches of apartments of independent journalists, and the refusal to release political prisoners, particularly Alyaksandr Kazulin, the former Rector of Belarusian State University. But how does the population view... MORE