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Minsk Students Protest Against Re-Examination Charges
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Students of the Belarusian State University (BSU) plan to hold a demonstration near the university administration building on 2 December to protest against re-examination charges. The university recently introduced these to incentivize students not to fail exams. The decision to...
9 April 2014
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A New Drug is Killing Belarusian Youth

During the three months of 2014, seven young people in Minsk died from eating blotting paper that contained a synthetic drug. A number of teenagers have also been seriously poisoned and ended up in the hospital in various cities across...

5 February 2014
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Belarus’ Latest Propaganda Film

On 30 January - 2 February a mass protest was staged in the centre of Minsk as a a part of a state-sponsored film project entitled Abel.  The highest echelons of the Presidential Administration are supervising the production of the film. Some...

10 September 2013
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Getting To Know Belarus: Impressions of Belarusian Education

Universities in the United States often bring to mind school spirit, frat parties and caffeine-fueled late nights studying at the library. I was not expecting the same situation in Belarusian universities, but I did hope for some semblance of...

20 May 2013
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EHU: How Belarusian is the Belarusian University in Exile?

The European Humanities University, also known as Belarus's university in exile, is struggling to find its identity. It is torn apart between being the Belarusian university in exile and a "normal" European university based in Lithuania. Some say, it...

4 February 2013
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Higher Education in Belarus: Burdened by Soviet Traditions

Belarusian Minister for Education Siarhei Maskevich on 28 January 2013 expressed his hope that students will convert the Belarusian science "into the main factor of socio-economic and mental development of the country". But does the government really foster the progress...

19 September 2012
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Lukashenka’s Youth

Last month ended the trial against former leader of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union Leanid Kavalyou. Police caught Kavalyou with a major bribe. The sentence was harsh – seven years of imprisonment in a maximum security colony with property confiscation. The criminal...

18 April 2012
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Germany and Belarus: Why People’s Diplomacy Doesn’t Work

The argument for loosening the visa regime for Belarusian citizen is that people to people contacts must improve. At a time when the official diplomatic relations are at an all-time low, it seems that the exchange between ordinary...

10 February 2012
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Visa Ban, Stuffed Animals Protest, Civil Society Champions – Belarus Civil Society Digest

The debate launched by the Office for a Democratic Belarus regarding the fine-tuning of the criteria for applying the EU visa sanctions towards Belarusian officials was the most discussed topic for Belarusian civic activists this week. Debate Regarding the Visa...

10 January 2012
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Why Young Belarusians Go to Russia, Not Europe

Alexander Rumak from the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection declared that the Belarusian labour market would not deteriorate this year. According to official figures, the unemployment rate in Belarus is merely 0.6% of the economically active population. The...

21 December 2011
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EHU: Belarusian University In Exile or For Exile?

Last month the Belarusian youth web site generation.by published a diagram showing that 2/3 of European Humanities University (EHU) graduates do not return to Belarus after completing their studies. According to generation.by, the data came from a poll of...