The 19-year-old Belarusian won the Sony Ericsson Open in Florida earlier this week. Victoria Azarenka claimed the biggest win of her career as she defeated five-time champion and world number one Serena Williams in the Miami final. Here is how Washington Post covered this victory:

Washington – According to Belarusian news agency Belta, the World Bank and Belarus have agreed on a $125 million draft loan for a new energy-effectiveness project.

Alexandra Goujon will give a talk “Does the Political Regime in Belarus Change” on Monday, April 27 at noon at Kennan Institute. Alexandra Goujon is an Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Bourgogne, Dijon, and Lecturer, Institute for Political Studies, Paris. Here is the event's introduction:

WASHINGTON – David Marples in his recent piece in Eurasia Daily Monitor analyzed how Belarusian auhorities view the opposition and concluded that

In 2008, Alexander Lukashenka’s “last dictatorship in Europe” ousted the U.S. Ambassador from Belarus and forced the U.S. Embassy in Minsk to be reduced to a skeletal staff. Restoration of a full-fledged U.S. Embassy in Belarus should be a priority.

The Center for Belarusian Studies at Southwestern College (Winfield, KS) invites undergraduate and graduate students to participate in its first International Summer School for Belarusian Studies from July 6 to August 7, 2009.

U.S.-Belarus Relations: Current Issues & Future Directions Dr. Andrei Fedarau Fulbright Scholar Tuesday, March 24th at 12pm, Room ICC 462 This talk will illuminate the current state of Belarus-US relations and consider possible scenarios for the future.  The Republic of Belarus and the United States do not enjoy a positive diplomatic relationship.  This is surprising, given the potential that existed in the early 1990s.  The main reasons for the strained relations are the lack of democratic and market transformations in Belarus.  Yet though many post-Soviet states can be described in this way, their relationship with US is not affected in this way. Dr. Fedarau was awarded the PhD in Physics. He worked at the Institute of Physics of Belarus' Academy of Sciences, then in the Supreme Council (parliament) of Belarus, as a head of International Relations Department. Since 1997, he has worked as an independent journalist and analyst of international relations and security.

An interesting overview of divergences within the European Union on the Belarusian issue appeared in an article published by Radio Liberty Free Europe.

Belarusian civil society groups around the world, including here in Washington, commemorate the Day of Solidarity every month on the 16th.  This day is meant to remind about the disappearance in Minsk in 1999-2000 of Yury Zakharenka, Victar Hanchar, Anatoly Krasouski and Dzmitri Zavadski. In 2004, the Council of Europe prepared a special report on disappeared persons in Belarus. It is the most comprehensive independent study of this problem, which sheds light on what had really happened. Below is the report's summary and its full text: The report presents the results of the investigatory work carried out by the Rapporteur and the ad hoc sub-committee to clarify the fate of four well-known persons who disappeared in Minsk in 1999 and 2000. The conclusions which are drawn gravely impugn certain high representatives of the Government of Belarus. The draft resolution and recommendation call on the Council of Europe and its member and observer states to follow up on these findings, including by sanctions against the Belarusian authorities until they take the measures that must be taken against those responsible. Belarusian civil society groups around the world, including here in Washington, commemorate the Day of Solidarity every month on the 16th.  This day is meant to remind about the disappearance in Minsk in 1999-2000 of Yury Zakharenka, Victar Hanchar, Anatoly Krasouski and Dzmitri Zavadski. In 2004, the Council of Europe prepared a special report on disappeared persons in Belarus. It is the most comprehensive independent study of this problem, which sheds light on what had really happened. Below is the report's summary and its full text: The report presents the results of the investigatory work carried out by the Rapporteur and the ad hoc sub-committee to clarify the fate of four well-known persons who disappeared in Minsk in 1999 and 2000. The conclusions which are drawn gravely impugn certain high representatives of the Government of Belarus. The draft resolution and recommendation call on the Council of Europe and its member and observer states to follow up on these findings, including by sanctions against the Belarusian authorities until they take the measures that must be taken against those responsible.

March 25 will be the 91st anniversary of the Declaration of the Belarusan Democratic Republic. On this day, Belarusian-American Association will organize and take part in the following events in Washington, D.C.: 12:15 PM -- Wreath-Laying Commemoration at the Victims of Communism Monument The VOCM is at the intersection of Massachusetts and New Jersey Avenues, NW.

   WASHINGTON - Eurasia Daily Monitor has published an article about the impact of economic crises on Belarus and whom Belarusians tend to blame for the crises: Economic Problems Beset Belarus March 13, 2009 To date, there has been little other than optimistic prognoses from Belarusian government circles about the state of the economy. Unlike the situation in neighboring states, Belarus is not facing recession, and economic growth continues. Moreover, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has assured citizens of government protection, should the situation become difficult. The Belarusian economy has a unique structure, in which state intervention has been common until recently; and the official media has proclaimed a specific Belarusian path to prosperity. Is it possible that the country has been unaffected by the international recession that is affecting its neighbors such as Poland, Ukraine, and Russia so strongly?

WASHINGTON - The economic situation in Belarus has worsened since the eastern European country signed a $2.46 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund in January, the IMF said Tuesday.

Newsweek International published Evgeny Morozov's article on how our hosting provider had blocked this web site. According to the article, the U.S. firms, spooked by export rules, seem to be practicing a kind of self-censorship oddly similar to what Chinese firms do. Let's hope that this exposure will help other Internet bloggers from Belarus and other countries. Here is the story: Yaraslau Kryvoi was no stranger to censorship. After all, he grew up in Belarus, one of the last "outposts of tyranny" in Europe, as former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice once put it. On Feb. 20, he got a notice from his Web-hosting firm that his account was being suspended and that he had 10 days to remove his content. Like many citizens of authoritarian states, Kryvoi had found himself on a blacklist. Trouble is, this story takes place in Washington, D.C. Kryvoi, a 29-year-old graduate of Harvard Law School, works at a reputable law firm. In his spare time, he administers a blog for the local chapter of the Belarussian American Association (BAA). Since the government of Belarus is subject to U.S. trade sanctions, Bluehost, the Provo, Utah, company that hosts Kryvoi's Web site, decided to cut him off." The full text of the article is available at Newsweek.com.

Today the United States Mission to the OSCE has realeased the following statement regarding the arrest of political prisoners in Belarus: Madam Chairwoman,