Alexander Lukashenka meets the President of Moldova, discusses Russia and Ukraine. Foreign Minister Makei flies to Geneva and later meets USAID representatives. Putin’s press-secretary Pescov rebuffs Lukashenka’s statements on the anti-Belarusian sanctions. Minsk prepares for the international military exhibition MILEX. Belarus wants to expand its cooperation with the World Bank in projects worth $300m. Lukashenka […]
It is my pleasure to present you with an overview of our activities in 2018. It has been a successful year with the Ostrogorski Centre serving as a hub for producing articles, policy papers and events relevant to the transformation of Belarus. In 2018, education-related work moved to the core of the Centre’s activities. Following […]
On 5 April 2019, the Russian Ambassador to Belarus Mikhail Babich informed that Alexander Lukashenka and Vladimir Putin agreed to conduct further consultations on the inter-state integration. However, both Belarusian and Russian media continue discussing the possibility of the Belarusian ‘anschluss’ by Russia. Moscow believes that Belarusians do not want to lose its independence, but […]
On the morning of 4 April tractors began digging up 70 wooden crosses at the Kurapaty memorial site on the outskirts of Minsk. Police detained 15 activists that came out in protest. Later the same day around 200 people gathered in the Kurapaty forest to commemorate the victims of Stalin’s mass execution at the site, […]
Belarusian authorities allow mass actions to celebrate the 101st anniversary of the Belarusian People’s Republic in Hrodna and Minsk. Nobel laureate’s (Svetlana Alexievich’s) Intellectual Club resumes its meetings. Minsk hosts the first ‘monstration’. The Belarusian court sentences Maryna Zolatava, the chief editor of TUT.by portal, to a fine over dereliction of duty under the so-called BelTA case. […]
The Ostrogorski Centre presents a new analytical paper ‘The Modernisation and Development of Belarusian Higher Education Institutions Based on the Entrepreneurial University Framework’, written by Radzivon Marozau. The paper primarily based on suggestions made during a conference on reform of Belarusian higher education held on 27 December 2018 in Minsk, organised by the Ostrogorski Centre. Dedicated to the […]
2018 saw two important developments for the Journal of Belarusian Studies. We welcomed Alena Marková from Charles University in Prague and Siarhei Bohdan from Free University of Berlin as the Journal’s co-editors. Second, the Journal has been accepted for inclusion in the SCOPUS database, the world’s largest citation index of peer-reviewed literature. This will no […]
On 23 March Hrodna, the Western city in Belarus, hosted Freedom Day celebrations. The occasion attracted up to 5,000 people. Although the authorities officially allowed the celebration of the alternative independence day for a second year, it is still too early to hope that this represents liberalisation in the country. Permission for the celebration in Hrodna […]
On 21 March 2019, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an official comment regarding the major diplomatic row between Minsk and Moscow. Belarusian and Russian diplomats have exchanged mutual reproaches in a rather undiplomatic manner. Whilst the Russian Ambassador to Belarus, Mikhail Babich, told Belarusians “not to teach Russia how to live,” the press […]
While Belarus hedges carefully between East and West, Minsk and Brussels both claim they are eager to deepen ties. Lukashenka and Putin meet for the fourth time over the course of two months. Arguments about oil and gas prices have become a recurring feature of the Belarus-Russia relationship. Experts see the major threats in 2019 in […]
On 2 March 2019 Alexander Lukashenka held his annual conference with journalists. The so-called “Big Conversation” lasted seven hours. The marathon session both clarified and blurred official positions on issues of security, closer integration with Russia, and Russian propaganda in Belarus. At the same time, in the context of recent discussions about the potential annexation […]
The 4th Annual Belarusian Studies in the 21st Century will take place on 29 March 2019 at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) in London, UK. The Ostrogorski Centre co-organizes the conference in cooperation with University College London and the Belarusian Francis Skaryna Library and Museum. To view a provisional programme for this […]
In recent weeks, Minsk has flirted with Warsaw and praised Ukraine for moving “in the right direction”. Meanwhile, foreign minister Uladzimir Makei rebuked former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, while hoping to sign a visa agreement with the European Union. Alexander Lukashenka met Vladimir Putin once again, yet achieved no progress concerning Belarus’s dissatisfaction with […]
The Ostrogorski Centre presents a new analytical paper ‘New forms of practice-oriented business education at masters level in Belarus’, written by Natalja Apanasovich. The paper primarily based on suggestions made during a conference on reform of Belarusian higher education held on 27 December 2018 in Minsk, organised by the Ostrogorski Centre. Dedicated to the issues of higher […]