civil society

Although formally a member of the Eastern Partnership (EaP), unfortunately Belarus does not participate in any of its programmes. It is excluded from visa liberalisation, the EaP flagship initiatives, and bilateral track programmes: for example, the Small and Medium-Size Enterprise Funding facility with a ...

​In the context of the high level political scandals a surprising number of new civil society developments takes place in Belarus. Belarusian NGOs launched new campaigns moving on social responsibility and institutionalising its networks.  The civil sector activities covered education, business, targeted better social inclusion as well as police misconduct. 

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The debate launched by the Office for a Democratic Belarus regarding the fine-tuning of the criteria for applying the EU visa sanctions towards Belarusian officials was the most discussed topic for Belarusian civic activists this week.

In December most Belarusian commentators focused on significant events of the 2011 and forecasts for the year 2012 - their outlook was rather pessimistic. The Independent Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Studies published results of its recent polls which show that over 80% of Belarusians think that the economy of the country is in crisis, and over 55% believe that the country is...

Last week Belarusian civil society and security services were preoccupied with the People’s Assemblies, the progress of the Ales Bialiatski trial and a discussion about proposed legislative amendments and restricting the freedom of assembly. Public debate on the future of National Civil Society Platform and economic reforms also appeared to be gaining momentum. None of the 19...

Conference of the Belarusian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society, unsuccessful legal challenge of new laws restricting civil society activities were among the main developments last week. 

Conference of the Belarusian National Platform. On October 29, Conference of the Belarusian National...

Belarus was one of the hottest topics at the United States-Central Europe Strategy Forum in Prague on 26-27 October 2011. Policy makers, government officials and analysts tried to resolve the Belarusian puzzle at a session called "Belarus at the Brink: Planning for Life After Lukashenka". 

The Forum speakers included Steven Korn, the President and CEO of the...

Belarus authorities continue their crackdown against all new forms of protests.  Initially security services were unprepared to actions such as Stop Petrol or Social Networks Revolution. But subsequently they found ways, often illegal even under Belarusian law, to prevent and disperse the protests.

The authorities tolerate neither single person pickets nor car owners protests...

Over the last week Belarus authorities strengthened pressure on journalists and generally tried to limit the spread of uncensored information. Although the number of protesters remains relatively small, they are surprisingly persistent and attract more people in Minsk and elsewhere. Authorities began to rely more on plain-clothed agents for arrests and intimidation.

Independent...

This week Russia's Finance Minister Kudrin made it clear that Moscow was not interested in bailing out the Belarusian economy with no conditions attached. That stimulated discussions that Russia finally decided to get rid of Alyaksandr Lukashenka. However, these discussions are based the premise that Russia`s intention is regime change.

Certainly Russia has no interest to...