Belarusians have surprised the world on many occasions since August 2020. No one would have dreamt that hundreds of thousands of people would be protesting on the streets of the capital Minsk for months. However, as a result of...
On 26 October, prominent Chinese government expert on post-Soviet states Wang Xiaoquan warned that an escalation of Western sanctions against Belarus could disrupt China-EU transit routes. Paradoxically, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka needs to improve relations with the EU in...
Over two months have passed since the beginning of the largest peaceful protests in Belarusian history. The protesters show little willingness to give up and the authorities continue to rely on violence and intimidation, despite calls from the West...
Belarus now witnesses the largest protests since the 1990s following rigged presidential elections. Hundreds of thousands of people in different parts of the country have been coming out to protest for many days, calling for the release of political...
There should be no illusions about Western support for Belarusian democracy. At least until the victory of the latter. Almost everything that EU governments do today is either symbolic gestures or the realization of their national interests in the...
Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenka has so far lost only one of his important pillars of support – his legitimacy (not to be confused with legality, which he had already lost 20 years ago). That is to say, he has...
Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has reportedly agreed to meet with Vladimir Putin in September to discuss a new integration package which may pose a threat to Belarusian sovereignty. The Kremlin is facing deeply uncomfortable choices: either to provide Lukashenka...
Speaking at a conference on 28 August, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka announced that he was willing to enter into dialogue with “working and student collectives” on political issues, including to prepare a new constitution. While he has a poor...
The mass protests erupting in Belarus since the day of the presidential elections, 9 August 2020, have been marked by brutal repression and unprecedented police violence. Security forces have used tear gas, water cannons, and weapons against the protesters....
On 22 August while meeting military personnel in Hrodna Province, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka announced that his opponents had — with the aim of bringing about a “colour revolution”— been attempting to divert his attention from the domestic situation by...
Following the 9 August Presidential Elections, Belarus is witnessing the largest public protests in its history. Hundreds of thousands of people are protesting in the capital Minsk, cities and towns across Belarus demanding the release of political prisoners, investigation...
On 18 August, president Alyaksandr Lukashenka convened his National Security Council with a focus on “external intervention” in the current protests in Belarus. He cited military threats on the “Western borders”, although a couple of weeks ago he had...
On 9 August, the day of the presidential elections, soon after the polling stations closed, protesters began to take to the streets of Belarusian cities. The rallies of thousands continued throughout the country in the following days. The authorities’...
On 14 August on Independence Square in the Belarusian capital Minsk, for the first time in 10 years, a rally of thousands of opponents of the authorities took place. And for the first time during the regime of President...
