World Ice Hockey Championship 2014

While the group stage of the IIHF 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship in Belarus is finished, the most interesting play-off matches, including the finals, are right around the corner. This is a great opportunity to visit Minsk which has already...

5 May 2014

Tourism in Belarus: Things to Do

More than 70 thousand tourists are heading to Belarus ahead of the 2014 IIHF World Ice Hockey Championship. Many plan to take advantage of the temporary visa-free regime this May. Though numerous wars and rebellions have resulted in the destruction of many architectural landmarks, Belarus has plenty of...

23 April 2014

Hockey Championship in Belarus: Breaking the Ice with the World

Yesterday Aliaksandr Lukashenka asked officials to make sure that foreign journalists would face no restrictions on media coverage of the Ice hockey World Championship in May. Next month Minsk will host a major international sports event for the first time in the history of independent Belarus.

27 December 2013

Ice Hockey World Championship in Minsk: Authorities Struggle With Challenges

The World Ice Hockey Championship will take place in Minsk on 9-25 May. Although not as extensive as those for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, preparation for this major sporting event is riddled with abuses and misteps. Belarusian authorities are accused of using...

2 September 2013

Getting a Belarusian Visa: Easier but More Expensive

Since 22 August 2013 all foreigners can get Belarusian visas through the Minsk National Airport just after their arrival.However, these and other relaxations in the visa regime on the eve of the 2014 Ice Hockey World Cup still remain...

26 September 2012

World Ice Hockey Championship in Belarus: Evil or Opportunity?

This week the General Congress of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in Tokyo may come back to the issue of 2014 Championship in Belarus. But despite an international campaign to move the Championship out of Belarus, the relocation is highly...

14 June 2012

David Marples: the Nation Built on the World War II Myth

Professor David Marples the University of Alberta who was banned in April from travelling to Belarus is finishing his new book on historical memory and World War II in Belarus. At an Anglo-Belarusian Society event in London last week, he...

15 April 2012

Political Prisoners in Belarus: How to Break the Vicious Circle

Former Belarusian presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov and his main campaign aide Dzmitry Bandarenka have been released from prison on the eve of the Christian Orthodox Easter. It looks like the first step in the de-escalation of the worst EU-Belarus...

6 March 2012

EU-Belarus Relations: Playing Hardball

EU travel ban against 21 Belarusian officials provoked extravagant behaviour by Belarusian authorities which analysts are still struggling to explain. On 28 February Belarus asked the Polish and EU delegation ambassadors to leave the country. The EU response was...

28 February 2012

Lukashenka’s Sport Diplomacy

As the new diplomatic war between Belarus and the European Union unfolds, Belarus may lose its right to host the World Ice Hockey Championship in 2014. Because of problems with democracy and human rights The Congress of the International...