![karatkevich.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/karatkevich.jpg)
![bologna.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/bologna-180x120.jpg)
Belarus remains the only European country excluded from the Bologna Process to date. This situation may finally change on 14-15 May 2015 when the ministerial meeting of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) will consider Belarus’s second attempt to...
![top.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/top_17-180x120.jpg)
On 5 March a soldier from a border unit near the city of Hrodna committed suicide while on duty. Although over the past couple of years the authorities have taken serious measures to reduce the number of deaths and...
![screen_shot_2015-04-10_at_15.11.01.png](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/screen_shot_2015-04-10_at_15.11.01-180x120.png)
Belarusian analysts discuss the threat to Belarusian statehood from Russia, the pros and contras of the Eurasian Economic Union as well as protest potential and intensified contacts of Belarus with the West. Foreign Policy Karbalevich on Belarus: Hybrid Ally...
![maz-nacgvardiya.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/maz-nacgvardiya-180x120.jpg)
On Tuesday, a provocative article appeared in the pro-Kremlin Russian daily, Vzglyad. It demanded that Belarus hold a referendum on becoming a part of Russia or else face Ukraine's fate. The article referred to Alyaksandr Lukashenka's recent interview with...
![funny-belarus.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/funny-belarus-180x120.jpg)
The Belarusian government and Western analysts tend to agree about one thing: Belarus is a social state. Belarus may not be a wealthy country, Alexander Lukashenka likes to say, but it is a state that serves ordinary people. Yet...
![screen_shot_2015-04-08_at_16.07.05.png](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/screen_shot_2015-04-08_at_16.07.05-180x120.png)
On 2 April, Alexander Lukashenka signed a decree against “social parasites”. From now on, individuals who do not pay taxes will lose be forced to submit around $240 annually into the the state’s coffers. This law is designed to help...
![final.png](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/final-180x120.png)
The Belarusian head of state continues to raise his profile in the West, most recently in an interview with a major western press outlet. In the interview Lukashenka snubs Putin and says that a repeat of the events in...
![lukashenko_rubin_27022015.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/lukashenko_rubin_27022015-180x120.jpg)
Belarusian diplomacy has been shifting the country's relations with the West into high gear seeking to capitalise on Belarus' newfound importance for regional stability. "The Europeans … are ready to cooperate with us, including for the sake of security in...
![temp3.png](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/temp3-180x120.png)
“Minsk Phenomenon” was the title of a 2013 Russian-language translation of University of Giessen historian Thomas Boehn’s book, which addressed the dominance of the city of Minsk in the development of contemporary Belarus. In many ways the Belarusian capital is...
![2_vouk.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2_vouk-180x120.jpg)
On 25 February the local government of the Belarusian town of Kruhlaje announced that its residents will have an obligatory unpaid day of work. The authorities still are trying to collect money for the annual Dažynki festival, since the...
![img_4051.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/img_4051-180x120.jpg)
Minsk Dialogue Conference, organised by Belarusian think tanks, attracts a number of high profile Euroean experts and over 20 journalists. Annual CSR Award Ceremony gathers over 70 business reps to recognise best Belarusian CSR practices. Fifth Social Weekend sums up...
![byelarus-rubl-nature.jpg](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/byelarus-rubl-nature-180x120.jpg)
In an attempt to fixate and extend the effects of currency devaluation, the Belarusian government and the National Bank have chosen internal devaluation as its leading policy. Internal devaluation means lower incomes and a more prudent fiscal and monetary...
![screen_shot_2015-03-24_at_10.06.47.png](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/screen_shot_2015-03-24_at_10.06.47-180x120.png)
Over the past 20 years, Belarusian teams have achieved tremendous success in kick boxing and Muay Thai boxing, becoming some of the strongest in the world. Martial arts' beginnings in Belarus go back to the late 1980s. During the Soviet era, some...
![minsk_dialogue_logo.png](https://belarusdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/minsk_dialogue_logo-180x120.png)
Minsk has recently reaffirmed its status as a regional diplomacy hub. Western governments have been eager to praise Belarus' role in the Ukraine peace process and became receptive to the Belarusian regime's ideas on reformatting the Eastern Partnership initiative. This...