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Belarus’s Hybrid Linguistic Practice: Language as a Post-Colonial Legacy
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Last week MoveHub.com released an infographic showing the second language spoken in countries across the globe. The infographic revealed many surprises, such as that Polish is the second language in the UK and that Turkish is the second...
4 November 2014
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Speed-Dating In Belarusian, Borsch Or Career – Belarus Civil Society Digest

Belarusian women discussed gender-related issues during the talk show "Borsch or career". A new interesting way to promote Belarusian language - Art Siadziba organises speed-dating when people can communicate in the language. A new portal ngo.by is launched. Anyone who...

3 October 2014
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Is Lukashenka Trying to Emancipate Belarus from Russian Culture?

On 29 September, Alexander Lukashenka stated that schools should increase the number of Belarusian language lessons they teach. Following Lukashenka's public speech in Belarusian in July this year, a rare even in and of itself, the retirement of some pro-Russian...

9 September 2014
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Belarusian Shrimp, Lukashenka’s Ice Bucket Challenge and Women Veterans – Western Press Digest

The Belarusian authorities did not take kindly to a Belarusian schoolboy calling on President Lukashenka to take the Ice Bucket Challenge. A mysterious new type of shrimp from Belarus is turning up in Russian supermarkets and a Belarusian citizen...

5 September 2014
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Oil in the Eurasian Economic Union, Poroshenko, the Language – Digest of Belarusian Analytics

Belarusian and foreign analysts examine Belarus' peace efforts, the role of oil in the Eurasian Economic Union, challenges of post-Soviet education and other topics. Belarus and the Eurasian Economic Union: Only about Oil? – The German Economic Team...

8 July 2014
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Belarusians Want Reforms, Enterpreneurs Protest, New Education Initiatives – Belarus Civil Society Digest

New polls suggest that in the current environment Aliaksandr Lukashenka remains the most trusted politician in Belarus but Belarusians want reforms, in the first place of its political system. The recently released political prisoner Ales Bialiatski is meeting with top...

8 February 2014
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New Eastern Europe Is Unmasking Belarus

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...

6 February 2014
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How Russian Culture and Media Shape Belarusian Politics

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...

24 December 2013
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Top 10 Belarus Civil Society Achievements in 2013

Top 10 activities and achievements, which in enriched Belarusian civil society in 2013. Advocacy of the Year: Perspectiva NGO Perspectiva, a small vendors association headed by Anatoly Shumchanka managed to postpone, until 1 July 2014, a complex procedure of...

11 December 2013
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Why Belarus is not Ukraine

Last weekend many Belarusians came to Kyiv to support the pro-European demonstrations. Social activists, politicians and even the famous rock band​ Liapis Trubetskoy expressed their support for Ukrainians with their pro-European choice. They came to take part in the truly massive political protests -...

9 December 2013
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Analytical Paper: Belarusian Identity – The Impact of Lukashenka’s Rule

The regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka rejected the ethno-national model of state suggested by his predecessors in the early 1990s.Instead, he restored a soviet style “statist nation” with a centralised bureaucratic machine at its core. These are the conclusions reached in...

25 November 2013
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Kulturkampf Against the Belarusian Language

Last week, the Belarusian Supreme Economic Court approved recalling the license of a major Minsk-based publishing house. The government apparently shut it down for publications which seemed too  political. This decision dealt a serious blow to Belarusian-language culture since few publishers have produced...

9 October 2013
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Prisoners of Authoritarianism: Alexievich and her Critics

Observers named Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich among favorites for the Nobel Prize again this year. Alexievich's books come out in 35 languages. Her trophies include German, American, Polish, Swedish, Austrian and international awards, but not a single distinction from Belarus. Instead of...

2 October 2013
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Belarusian Official Fined for Using Russian instead of Belarusian

On 3 September, Belarus saw an unusual legal precedent set. The court tried Alieh Halaŭko, the director of a branch of a Minsk district housing services, for answering an address written in Belarusian with Russian. According to the Law on Addresses of...

20 September 2013
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Fuel Prices Rise, Gazprom’s Social Projects – Belarus State TV Digest

Fuel became more expensive in Belarus, but is still cheaper than in neighbouring countries. Channel BT1 extensively covered a meeting of Lukashenka with the head of Russia's largest bank Sberbank and the head of Gazprom and Gazprom's support for social...