Russian government

Lukashenka Entertains Loyal Russian Journalists

Last week, almost one hundred journalists from Russian regions came to Belarus to enjoy a carefully staged show. The most important component of it was Lukashenka's performance at his press conference on 16 October. Belarusian authorities use free trips for Russian journalists as an instrument...

19 December 2010

Belarus: from Democracy to Dictatorship through Elections

Charismatic Alyaksandr Lukashenka was elected 1994, when Belarus had its first and so far the only relatively free presidential elections. Lukahsenka won giving promises of...

26 November 2010

Russia, NATO and Belarus: Real Money and Unreal Threats

For Belarus, an agreement between Russia and NATO will once again underline the problem of being outside this process of pan-European integration. Belarus can not continue...

3 July 2010

Russia Is Not Willing to Pay for its Imperial Prestige

This week, after a bitter gas transit conflict with Belarusian government, Russian Gasprom declared that preliminary gas prices for Belarus next year should be about USD 250. Now it pays 185 dollars. Even some naïve oppositional analysts welcomed what...

13 June 2010

Belarus Not Worried about Losing Key National Companies

The news on a legal move by the Belarusian parliament to allow privatization of most profit-making public property objects – the Belaruskali Company and strategically important oil pipelines – generated little publicity. However, it is these assets that make...

27 April 2010

Scandal in Vienna: Belarusian Regime Funded by Austrian Business?

Is Belarus sliding into the realm of notoriously corrupt Third World states? New scandal in Vienna involved Belarusian leader and resembled exploits of corrupt politicians from some African and Asian states.