An official myth describes Belarus as a country of mires and swamps. Indeed, Belarus has one of the largest wetlands on the continent, often the lungs of Europe. But peat extraction on an industrial scale in 1960s – 1980s led to the drainage of 51.2 % of its peatlands. Peat has been used mostly as a fuel for boilers for many years. As a result, just one third of Belarusian peatlands remains untouched. Nevertheless several years ago Deputy Prime minister of Belarus Uladzimir Siamashka declared that the golden era of peat briquette plants was coming and pointed out that government will make a huge investment into peat enterprises. To defend the last Belarusian mire public campaign In Defense of Belarusian Wetlands emerged.
Who is happy in Belarus? BISS analyzes official government and UNICEF statistics and finds out who is happy in Belarus. Mediakritika.by monitors the media situation in Belarusian state TV media, but also Warsaw-based Belsat. Sergey Drozdovskii, Coordinator of the Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities, explains why the Belarusian authorities hold back from signing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Liberal Club presents a policy brief on the results of the recent sociological surveys regarding attitudes towards the public administration.
When seeing Lukashenka in Minsk on 23 April, the Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu said that a Russian air regiment and an airbase will have been created Belarusian territory by 2015. Shoygu said that the first military planes would come to Belarus already this year. His statement did not provoke a negative response from Lukashenka at that meeting. However, on 26 April Lukashenka said in an interview: “You know my character and you realize that such thing will never happen. I am not a president who would give his to somebody else, let alone the highest thing – the sovereignty… As the Chief Commander, I lack two dozen modern airplanes. We buy Russian Su-27s, MiG-29s or some more modern planes to ensure inviolability of our state borders.”
The Lithuania’s six month European Union presidency which started in July has led to talk of a new Eastern policy. Lithuania wants to keep EU enlargement on the European agenda, showing Eastern neighbours that the European Union wants enlargement. It acts as an answer to Russia and that the Russian inspired Customs Union is not the only answer for the former-Soviet Union region. Lithuania wants to improve economic relations with Belarus and develop them by opening up borders and liberalising the Schengen visa regime. By liberalising visas for Belarusians, the Lithuanian government hopes it will force Minsk to liberalise, once Belarusians experience the liberalism and economic well-being of the European Union.
On 19 October, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph published an article, where it criticised the UK for its contribution to the EuropeAid programme on EU-Belarus border cooperation as helping the Belarusian dictatorship. The technologies provided by the EU, the author argues, can be used to prevent the Belarusian opposition from escaping from the country. In reality, border security has little to do with the Belarusian opposition. Border cooperation remains one of the few areas where Belarus successfully cooperates with the EU and receives financial aid. The interest here is mainly European, as the issue of illegal migration, terrorism and trafficking is critical for the EU. The undemocratic Belarusian regime, despite all its problems with the EU, prevents a mass inflow of migrants and contributes to European security.
On the 10 October 2013 the government and the National Bank of Belarus issued a plan for structural reforms of the Belarusian economy aimed to increase its competitiveness. Faced with major threats to its macroeconomic stability and the unfortunate timing of the potash conflict, the Belarusian government came up with a plan of structural reforms. The plan should reinvigorate the economy and improve expectations for the country's economic agents. The current facts, however, give little reason for optimism in the short run. GDP is stagnating, currency reserves are melting away, the ruble is devaluating, and there is no money to pay off debts. The government has to cut back on social support, and it is important that it creates a new, efficient safety net for those in need.
After the brutal repression of the regime that followed the Presidential election in 2010, many opposition activists moved to the West. New emigration centres, poorly connected with the old diaspora, mushroomed in Europe and the United States. The new wave of emigration differs significantly from their predecessors when it comes to financial resources and attitudes towards politics. The West should be careful with the political ambitions of emigrants and focus on achievable results. Instead of hoping to quickly overthrow Lukashenka, it should consider realistic opportunities to improve the situation in Belarus step-by-step.
After three years of imprisonment with hard labour, notable political prisoner Paval Seviarynets is free. Jailed civil rights activist Ales Byalyatski has been awarded the first ever Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize. Russian giant Rosneft making inroads into Belarus, while the Belarus-Russia potash scandal continues. Belarusian journalist Iryna Khalip and famous British playwright Tom Stoppard were the co-recipients of the 2013 PEN/Pinter Prize. Belarus Free Theatre continues to receive media coverage and positive reviews in the west.
On 16 October, the High Command of the Belarusian military conducted a detailed analysis of West-2013 exercise, which played out in Belarus in late September. The event became the largest show of force by the Union State of Russia and Belarus in four years. Second in scope only to the controversial West-2009 exercise, West-2013 has become another milestone in the Russia-driven military integration in the post-Soviet space. Whether the exercise helped the Belarusian leader to strike non-military bargains with Kremlin remains to be seen.
State TV Channel 1 widely covered the presidential elections which recently took place in Azerbaijan. A visit of Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov to Minsk resulted in the signing of a package of agreements. Alexander Lukashenka also made it clear that he would not oppose the Western ambitions of Kiev. The IMF mission will be monitoring the economic situation of Belarus, but state TV noted that Minsk already appeared to be a trustworthy partner not only for the IMF, but also for other international organisations.
On 19 September, human rights organisation “Innovation Platform” announced that political prisoner Mikalaj Aŭtuchovič cut his abdomen in protest to the abuse suffered by the prison administration. Shortly after that he published a letter in Narodnaja Volia newspaper where he explained why he had to employ such dangerous tactics of protest. The letter reveals the widespread violations of human rights and technical, sanitary and other norms of prison operation in Belarus. The Belarusian corrections system remains completely unreformed since Soviet times. The judiciary tends to impose custodial sentences on offenders rather than fine them or put them on probation. As a result, Belarus occupies one of the leading positions in Europe in its per capita rate of prisoners.
Belarus shows its adherence to a defence alliance with Russia and other members of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO). In September, already two joint exercises took place in the country. However, the ability of the post-Soviet military alliances (CSTO and the bilateral alliance between Belarus and Russia) to ensure independently stability inside their borders remains questionable. Suffice to say that during almost the entire period of its existence, the CSTO is trying to engage with NATO on issues of mutual interest such as Afghanistan and terrorism.
On 8 October, Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov completed his visit to Belarus. The Ukrainian top-official flew to Belarus to find common ground with Alexander Lukashenka, a possible advocate for Kyiv in its relations with the Kremlin. Alexander Lukashenka, surprisingly, has reacted favourably to the European aspirations of Ukraine and has not joined in in Moscow's economic war against Kyiv. Economic relations between Belarus and Ukraine are developing rapidly; trade over the last four years has grown 2.5 times. The two countries, however, still have economic claims against each other. With Kyiv's support, Lukashenka wants to show his significance to the Kremlin and get from the Russian leadership even more concessions.
Ales Bialiatski received Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize for human rights defence in Belarus. IPM Research Centre, Belarusian Economic Research and Education Centre BEROC launched a new project "Economics live” on portal TUT.BY. Fond of Ideas together with the Pontis Foundation (Slovakia) will organise a forum in Minsk on corporate social responsibility.