On 29 June the Ostrogorski Centre held the first Ostrogorski Forum on foreign policy and security in Minsk. The theme of this year's conference was 'Inertia, strengthening neutrality or changing the foreign policy orientation? Foreign policy in Belarus at the...
In April 2016 the NGO Priceconomics published an article entitled Which Countries Are the Most / Least Overrun by Tourists? in which Belarus was ranked the 11th least popular country for tourists. The fact that a central European country is...
During her speech on 12 June 2016 in New York, Belarusian Nobel laureate in literature Sviatlana Alexievich criticised Poles for actively murdering Jews during World War II. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately reacted with a protest note demanding...
The Movement for Freedom invites to take part in an election prediction contest. The Belarusian Association of Journalists can be admitted to the state-organised Supervisory Council on the media during the parliamentary elections. VI Festival of Non-Formal Education took place in...
Louis Mayer, one of the founders of the Hollywood studio Metro-Golden-Mayer and the ‘inventor’ of the Oscar award was born in Minsk. Isaac Asimov, Marc Chagall and Leon Bakst were born and grew up in Belarus. Fifteen Nobel Prize laureates,...
On 20 July 2016 at 7:45 am a bomb went off in a car in Kiev. The explosion killed Pavel Sheremet, a prominent Belarusian journalist working in Ukraine. Pavel was 44 years old and was killed in a car of...
In mid-June 2016 Belarus hosted a regional forum on oncology for the second time since 2004. It brought together leading regional cancer specialists from 25 countries. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 14 million people annually get diagnosed with...
A private sleeping train compartment in Belarus costs around $6 for an eight hour trip. This is around 70 times cheaper than travelling with a Western equivalent such as the American Amtrak. Contributing around 2.2% to yearly Belarusian GDP, Belarusian...
According to Polish MP Robert Winnicki, Poland should stop funding the Belsat TV channel and improve relations with Lukashenka. Although Winnicki remains a marginal figure in Polish politics, his statement is indicative of a new...
The Minsk City Court is currently dealing with the high-profile case of a drug-dealing network, known as LegalMinsk. After its launch in 2011, it grew into the biggest online retailer of so-called 'spice' drugs. According to the prosecution, LegalMinsk infiltrated...
In July 2016, president Alexander Lukashenka appointed two new ambassadors – to China and to Georgia. A few days earlier, several sources had reported that the president’s aide on economic issues – Dr. Kiryl Rudy – was to become the...
In the beginning of July state newspapers discuss the parliamentary election campaign, the re-denomination of the Belarusian currency and measures by the government to overcome economic difficulties. Official ideologists criticise the opposition for its inability to hold a proper election...
In June the Investigatory Committee of Belarus confirmed that Eduard Paĺčys, the editor of the website 1863x.com, was extradited from Russia and is undergoing criminal investigation. The website was known for its critical position towards Russian and Belarusian authorities, and...
Working-level contacts between Belarus and the European Union are thriving. However, this has been the case for a few years now. Brussels apparently expects much more from Minsk in order to proceed to the highest-level of dialogue with Belarus. In...
