Aliaksandr Lukashenka made a good personnel decision by appointing a new Chief of General Staff. Security agencies suffer from underfunding. It forces them to adopt austerity measures and negatively impacts the number of those who want to choose to serve in the military. Unable to procure new combat aircraft, the Belarusian authorities have decided to modernise their existing fleet.
Belarusian lecturers from the European Humanities University are getting ready to strike soon. This was the message coming out of the University's labour union shortly after the EHU administration dismissed professor Pavel Tereshkovich, the head of the EHU Senate, who was elected last November. Prior to these elections a group of lecturers launched an electoral platform criticising the conditions of their employment contracts and the upcoming hiring campaign.
On 24 January, CNN published a rating of the world’s ugliest monuments, causing an outrage in many post-Soviet countries, both officially and among the general public. The channel described the Courage monument from the Brest Fortress memorial in Belarus as looking constipated, a strange characterisation from a professional media company. The story provoked a chain of official letters of protest in Belarus and Russia. In Russia the anti-American wave seemed to grow even stronger as a result. In return, Russian TV show depicted soldiers at Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, hinting that they were simulating a sexual act.
A photo of 20 well-known Belarusians holding a banner in support of FC BATE Barysau ultras stirred up the Belarusian internet at the end of January. The photo also featured rock star Liavon Volski, writer and journalist Natalka Babina, screenwriter and film director Andrei Kureichyk. Not far back, it was hard to imagine intellectuals expressing support for groups of football fans well-known for violence, hateful chants and slogans. But the latest confrontation in Ukraine has brought together completely different groups of people from Belarusian society.
On 27 January, in an address to the State Border Committee, Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka sounded appeared to be in a cooperative mood with Brussels urging officials “to more effectively use the interests of the EU in creating a strong border.” Border-related projects were among few positive achievements in relations between Belarus and the EU in recent years. They have achieved results wherever possible without running into politically controversial matters and could help launch projects in other spheres. Furthermore, at the Eastern Partnership summit in November Belarusian foreign minister Uladzimir Makey said that “the time has come” for negotiations on visa facilitation with the EU. In late January, Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Alena Kupchyna discussed in Brussels the official launch of these negotiations.
It jumps out at you right after you come back from a foreign land: Minsk is not like Vilnius, Warsaw or Prague. Indeed, it is not like anywhere else. And obviously, this concerns not only its "deserted streets" or the perception that there are "a lot of police." At least, it's not all that simple. Let's try and deduce the reasons that make our favourite city exceptional. Almost no graffiti. Few areas with tags in underground walkways (e.g. on Kalvaryjskaja Str. near Itera's never-ending construction project) and in the car parking lot along the railway tracks painted with the consent of the Minsk City Hall — that's all there is of signs of Banksy's followers' presence in Minsk. Here, graffiti lasts but for a few days or sometimes even a few hours. We've got used to it already but it's a miracle! Look at what's happening to Paris!
The latest issue of New Eastern Europe, an English language magazine published in Poland, devoted nine articles to Belarus. Are Belarusians pro-European? Do activists care about the language issue? Why trade unions in Belarus cannot play the same role as Solidarity movement in Poland? This volume offers an interesting discussion of these and other topics. The editors of the journal hoped to offer a different look at Belarus, a country which is “probably the biggest victim of western misconceptions.” From this point onward, the issue does not question the more obvious issues surrounding Lukashenka's regime, but rather invites readers to analyse Belarus from different angles.
On 31 January the director of the National Book Chamber of Belarus claimed that the Belarusian publishers printed eight times more books in Russian than in Belarusian in 2013. This data illustrates well the position that Russian culture occupies in Belarus. The Russian language dominates the cultural and media space. Belarusians prefer to surf Russian websites like mail.ru and to watch Russian TV series like The Real Guys more than their Belarusian or Western equivalents.
On 30 January - 2 February a mass protest was staged in the centre of Minsk as a a part of a state-sponsored film project entitled Abel. The highest echelons of the Presidential Administration are supervising the production of the film. Some observers dubbed Abel a response to Viva Belarus, a film that was shot in Poland last year. But producers claim the film will be a fictional work with only a few historical parallels. However, many things point to the fact that the film can indeed be used as a more ideological affair, made in preparations for the upcoming 2015 presidential elections. The first awkward shots, strange filmmaking team and a leaked scenario convinced many that the project might end in failure.
The U.S. presidential administration is looking into a possible security breach to its recently launched healthcare website, with the issue being linked back to Belarus. New allegations have surfaced that European donor aid is financing Belarus’ border police, again raising eyebrows in the United Kingdom. Journalists from Finland may not attend the World Ice Hockey Tournament if not allowed to cover topics other than the games. Uralkali and the Belarusian Potash Company are in talks to rebuild their relationship, though both sides are very cautious.
A new project Civic Dialogue gathered representatives of both state and independent think tanks, journalists and officials. Participants of the “What Do Belarusian Businesses Think” discussed results of latest research on competitiveness of Belarusian regions. Ales Bialacki may be amnestied, opposition candidates appeared on state TV. International Congress of Belarusian Studies calls for panels.
In early January 2014 the Independent Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS) published its December 2013 poll results for various domains of public opinion. Though some people, including opposition politicians and activists, doubt this institute's ability to handle a proper social survey in an unfree society, most Belarusian experts and analysts trust their data. The results of the latest poll suggest that Belarusians show certain signs of a gradual "maturing" as a society.
Belarus Digest will broadcast live open panel discussion in series “What Do Belarusians Think?” organised by the Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC, Lithuania) and the Belarus Research Council (BRC). The broadcast will start on 31 January at 2 pm (Vilnius time). The fourth discussion “What do Belarus Businesses Think?” will analyse the results of the latest research on the competitiveness of the regions in Belarus, carried out by the Research Center of the Institute for Privatization and Management (IPM RC).
Earlier this month, the newly appointed Orthodox Metropolitan Pavel arrived in Minsk. The Metropolitan has no Belarusian passport or roots, does not speak Belarusian and visited Belarus only twice in his life before appointment. The new Metropolitan owes his position to the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow, rather than to Belarusians, majority of whom consider themself Orthodox Christians. Russia has been building up it its long-term lobby in Belarus for some time. Many people from the bureaucracy have close ties with their Russian counterparts. After leaving government service, senior officials often find new jobs in Russian companies.