Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Common history that divides Belarus and Lithuania

On 28 January, Vilnius hosted a performance of the Belarusian ballet Vitaut (Vytautas in Lithuanian). The performance has courted controversy, with the Lithuanian culture minister describing it as a provocation six months ago. The ballet shows how joint heritage, instead...

21 April 2015

Soft Belarusization: A New Shift in Lukashenka’s Domestic Policy?

Russian pro-government media outlet Lifenews has recently criticised Lukashenka's decision to not participate in the 9 May Victory Day Parade in Moscow. Many in Russia think that Minsk's integration rhetoric has been replaced with a form of soft...

20 February 2013

Re-Writing History in Belarus

The official interpretation of history in Belarus has experienced a dramatic evolution since the USSR's collapse. At the first stage a Belarusian nationalist-oriented approach dominated in historiography. After Lukashenka came to power in 1994, a reversal to a Soviet...

7 January 2013

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Two Christmases in One Country

Belarus is a unique country when it comes to Christmas: it has one Christmas at the end of December and the other one in early January. Both are official days off. The Belarusian state officially recognises two confessions - the...

14 June 2012

David Marples: the Nation Built on the World War II Myth

Professor David Marples the University of Alberta who was banned in April from travelling to Belarus is finishing his new book on historical memory and World War II in Belarus. At an Anglo-Belarusian Society event in London last week, he...

11 June 2012

Mark Chagall Exhibition in Minsk – Civil Society Digest

A Mark Chagall exhibition in the centre of Minsk last week became a shining example of civic-business cooperation. The statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania also returned to Minsk after being purchased at a Moscow antiques auction for $45,000. The funds...

24 May 2012

Belarus-Latvia: Economic Interests Prevail

Latvia has been consistently opposing economic sanctions against the Belarusian government. The EU hopes to use sanctions to persuade Belarus authorities stop human rights violations. However, Lativa is sceptical about their effectiveness and can suffer significant economic losses as a...

4 December 2011

Andrew Wilson on His Belarus Book and Lukashenka’s Survival

Last month Yale University Press published Andrew Wilson's book "Belarus - The Last European Dictatorship". The book covers Belarusian history from Polatsk Principality to the present day Belarus and offers particularly interesting insights into Lukashenka's rise to power and the system...

15 July 2010

Grunwald, the Great Belarusian Victory

Poland and the Republic of Lithuania today officially celebrate the 600th anniversary of the battle of Grunwald. On July 15, 1410, the united army of Poland and the Grand Duchy of...

4 April 2010

A Guide to Eastern Europe’s Most Tedious Arguments: Vilnius / Wilno / Vilnia

Edward Lukas in the Economist writes about the most contentious issues in Eastern Europe. The contemporaty city of Vilnius is certainly one of those issues. Very few people realise that as a result of the 1939 Stalin-Hitler agreement deviding Europe...