Helsinki-2 prospects, Regnum trial, cryptocurrencies, civic nationalism – digest of Belarusian analytics
First government of the Belarusian People's Republic, 1918 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
EU support in Belarus reaches record-breaking €29m annually, of which a vast majority of funds goes to the state, according to the New Ideas Centre. Yauhen Preiherman talks about the prospects of a new Helsinki-2 process. Aliaksandr Klaskoŭski analyses the results of the visit to Belarus of the European Commissioner Johannes Hahn.
Artyom Shraibman examines the Regnum case. Keir Giles identifies lessons of September 2017’s Russian-Belarusian Zapad military exercise. Tatsiana Kulakevich explains why authoritarian Belarus liberalises cryptocurrencies.
This and more in the new edition of the digest of Belarusian analytics.
Foreign policy
How Much We Have And How Much We Can Have from EU – Anton Radniankou, New Ideas Centre, analysing the grants and politics, concludes that the EU is working on the “Europeanisation” of Belarus through the involvement of the elites in the joint projects, but not putting an ultimatum regarding human rights. Thus, the growth of donor support reached record-breaking €29m per year, and the vast majority of funds goes to the state.
European Security Requires a New Helsinki Process (re-posted by Sovetskaya Belorussiya newspaper) – Analyst Yauhen Preiherman talks about the prospects of the initiative to launch a new European Helsinki-2 negotiation process. He tells about the Minsk Dialogue expert initiative, which monitors the pain points in the security system, and, most importantly, creates the institutional capacity that will help solve the existing problems.
Why Lukashenka Wants a Strong European Union? – Aliaksandr Klaskoŭski analyses the results of the visit to Belarus of the European Commissioner Johannes Hahn. Namely, Alexander Lukashenka has shown himself to be a greater supporter of a strong EU, than other EU politicians. However, the journalist believes that the Belarusian regime is far from the European values; it just needs space for manoeuvre.
Security
Toward a 'healthy' nationalism. BISS research on the national identity policy The 'soft Belarusianisation' that is currently underway in Belarus is the result of the convergence of actions of three types of actors: social activists, business and the Belarusian authorities. Read more
Russia Hit Multiple Targets with Zapad-2017 – Keir Giles, at Carnegie Endowment, identifies lessons of September 2017’s Russian-Belarusian Zapad military exercise. The analyst sees the real value of Zapad-2017 in understanding how Russia is considering responding to perceptions of threat. Critically, this includes recognising the vulnerability of its relationship with Belarus, which remains one of the many potential triggers for offensive action by Russia.
The Case of Pro-Russian Publicists. Five Conclusions Before the Verdict – On 2 February, a verdict will be rendered in the case of the authors of Regnum, accused in anti-Belarusian propaganda. Artyom Shraibman, TUT.by, believes that this is one of the most important political trials of recent years. The Belarusian authorities seem to have learned to see the threats to national security; however, they still have troubles with a proportionate and relevant response.
Economy
Why Would Authoritarian Belarus Liberalise Cryptocurrencies? – Tatsiana Kulakevich, The Washington Post, explains a decree adopted in December in Belarus to legalise cryptocurrency transactions. The author notes that if Belarus’s bold experiment with cryptocurrency takes off, there may be greater demand for legal and financial reform from other sectors – and this could weaken the authoritarian regime.
Economic Outlook. Third Quarter 2017 – According to the quarterly BEROC’s overview, growth slowdown signals are amplified; the consumption growth is subsiding; the growing return on capital can revive investment demand; the inflation is drifting to the price stability zone; the public debt structure is changing, and real wages are growing, but the real well-being is stagnating.
Civil society
The role of labour in the penitentiary system of Belarus. The paper proposes to study the role of labour in the law enforcement system of Belarus taking into consideration its three functions: prevention, correction and reintegration. Read more
Annual Review 2017: Civil Society and Political Parties Moved Beyond the Oppositional Agenda – According to Belarus in Focus’ review, civil society and the opposition attempted to use the window of opportunity and engage new supporters among those discontent with the state’s socio-economic policy. Yet civil society and the opposition have not formed a critical mass of active supporters of change to promote systemic reforms.
Belarus: Paradoxes of National Memory and Freedom of Speech – Grigory Ioffe overviews the preparations by both the opposition and authorities to the centennial of the Belarusian People’s Republic (BPR) proclaimed on 25 March 1918. The analyst notes that civic nationalism as a platform for broad-based consensus about Belarus’s statehood has a minimal confrontational potential.
Belarus Policy
Toward a ‘healthy’ nationalism. BISS research on the national identity policy. The ‘soft Belarusianisation’ that is currently underway in Belarus is the result of the convergence of actions of three types of actors: social activists, business and the Belarusian authorities. The motives of each of them may be different, but they all add up to the same effect. The Russia-Ukraine conflict accelerated, but not generated, Belarusianisation.
Preconditions for this process had emerged over the previous decade, and the government began to appeal to national values in 2011-2012. President Lukashenka is personally interested in having the idea of independence of Belarus become the main imperative for every citizen, especially for officials. Loyalty to Belarus is a necessary condition, though not sufficient one, for loyalty to his regime.
The role of labour in the penitentiary system of Belarus. The presented report aims to describe the existing penitentiary system in Belarus in terms of its labour component. Labor is at the heart of the penal system of the Republic of Belarus. The authors propose to study the role of labour in the law enforcement system of Belarus taking into consideration its three functions: prevention, correction and reintegration.
The report assesses the nature and parameters of the labour market in the penitentiary system, examines the importance of the employment after the release of a prisoner and before entering the correctional facility.
Belarus Digest prepared this overview on the basis of materials provided by Pact. This digest attempts to give a richer picture of the recent political and civil society events in Belarus. It often goes beyond the hot stories already available in English-language media.
Flying University courses, Charter97.org blocked, Absurdity of the Month – Belarus civil society digest
Zrabili! Awards ceremony. Photo: 34mag.net
Ulej sums up results: 137 local crowdfunding campaigns collected over $280K. Imena calls for applications to fund social projects and organizations. Social Weekend competition is launched for the 11th time. The first Repair Café is held in Minsk.
New guides for CSOs: Belarusian practitioners share the experience of how to run social media and attract local resources. Liberal Club invites youth to participate in the “Belarusian Lego” essay competition.
BAJ: 101 journalists detained in 2017. Access to the opposition website Charter97.org blocked in Belarus. BPF Youth head expelled from the university. Electby campaign announces a contest for “Belarusian Absurdity of the Month”.
This and more in the fresh Belarus civil society digest.
Crowdfunding
Ulej sums up results. From its inception in 2015, a Belarus’ crowdfunding platform Ulej.by has been facilitating the successful implementation of 137 crowd campaigns. These are books, theatrical performances, designer things, social projects etc. The authors of the projects collected over $280K.
Imena calls for applications to fund social projects and organisations. The Imena platform collects money for projects thanks to resonant materials on the Imenamag.by website. This year, the Imena has a department for working with projects. Since its inception in 2016, the Imena has supported 25 projects and collected donations of over $230K.
Local and urban activism
Social Weekend launched for the 11th time. Any Belarusian is eligible to apply for the Social Weekend, a national contest of social projects and get all the necessary resources – money, knowledge, and social capital. Deadline for applications is 28 February. Since 2013, Social Weekend got over 2,000 unique ideas, 200 were supported from local sources.
The first Repair Café held in Minsk. On 21 January, in Minsk, Repair Café was opened for everybody who wanted to repair household devices, bicycles, clothing etc. for free. Similar events are a part of the international movement spread in 200 cities of different countries around the world. The objective is to reduce waste, to maintain repair skills and to strengthen social cohesion.
The first Repair Café in Minsk. Photo: greenbelarus.info
Award ceremony Zrabili! / Done! recognised the best community initiatives on Belarus. On 13 January, in Minsk, over 50 initiatives were awarded for the successful activities during 2017. The award was founded and given for the second year in a row by Office for European Expertise and Communications (OEEC), CityDog.by and 34mag.net under the joint initiative, which expands the visibility of grassroots activism in Belarus.
101 projects participate in the #Paskarenne contest. The #Pascarenne / Acceleration contest, initiated by a non-profit platform Talaka, includes ideas that “cause pride for the country in any field”: from social and urban to entrepreneurial and technological. Winners will be named in February, following the results of people’s and expert voting. The prize fund is $5K.
Case studies in community development. The SYMPA Centre and the NGO Assembly released a collection of case studies, which describe the grassroots activism in different Belarusian locations in 2016-2017. The manual contains the stories about the organisation of the courtyard’s festival, repair of roads, changes in street names, etc.
Non-formal education
Guide: How CSOs should run social media. New Ideas Centre releases a guide that explains how CSOs can operate effectively in social networks. The guide is available online and created under the Public Participation project, that unites 10 organisations working together to support civic activity in Belarus, expanding innovation, exchange of experiences and mutual learning.
Manual: How to raise funds at the local level. ACT NGO presents a fundraising handbook for CSOs that describes the key local sources of funds, methods, and tools. The book also includes cases of CSO cooperation with business structures, legislation aspects, as well as practitioners’ recommendations.
Flying University invites to new courses. The University offers 8 open courses involving contemporary issues, associated with the rapid technological and innovative development. The Flying University is an initiative aimed at creating in Belarus the space and environment with free thinking; it is a movement towards a modern University in and for Belarus. Applications are accepted until 5 February.
Belarusian Lego essay competition. Liberal Club invites schoolchildren and students to participate in the 5th annual essay competition. The theme of this year is Globalisation vs Belarusisation. Thirty winners will receive an invitation to a three-day educational school. The papers should be sent by 28 February.
Media
Opposition website Charter97.org blocked in Belarus. The Ministry of Information explains its decision by the reason that the website had published information the dissemination of which is able to harm the national interests of Belarus. The Belarusian Association of Journalists protests against blocking access to social and political websites.
In 2017, the persecution of journalists increased (infographics). According to Belarusian Association of Journalists, 101 journalists were detained last year (to compare: 13 cases in 2016). The total sum of fines, imposed on journalists for cooperation with foreign mass media in 2017 is €24,235.
Belarus in Focus 2017 is accepting articles. The international competition for journalists writing about Belarus in international media is annually organised by Belarus in Focus Information Office in partnership with Press Club Belarus. This year the competition takes place for the 7th time. The deadline for applications is 15 March 2018.
Other
Hanna Smilevich. Photo: racyja.com
BPF Youth head expelled from the university. Hanna Smilevich, 18, became the leader of the BPF Youth on 24 December 2017. She was a second-year student of the BSU Institute of Journalism. BPF Youth Council considers Smilevich’s expulsion is politically motivated since she had no problems with her studies before heading BPF Youth.
10th contest of projects of Meeting Place: Dialogue program is organised by Vzaimoponimanie NGO together with EVZ Foundation. The competition aims to support projects in the interests of former prisoners of concentration camps and ghettos, people involved in forced labour and other victims of Nazi persecutions, as well as other people born before 9 May 1945. Deadline is 28 February.
Absurd of the Month competition. The campaign in the national election observation Electby announces a competition to identify anything absurd in modern Belarusian reality. It can be any violations related to the current legislation or daily life, in a governmental entity or a public space. The massages should be sent by 10 February.
Belarus Digest prepared this overview on the basis of materials provided by Pact. This digest attempts to give a richer picture of the recent political and civil society events in Belarus. It often goes beyond the hot stories already available in English-language media.
