Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

This report covers campaign developments that occur during the Belarusian parliamentary ‘campaigning period,’ which lasts from the end of candidate registration on August 11 until Election Day, September 11. It focuses on candidate campaigning, particularly TV appeals and ( Read more... )

Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

After the 2015 October presidential elections Belarus gears up for a parliamentary one on September 11 with little expectations of democratic improvement.

Albeit authoritarian, Belarus is both a functional state and society. The EU is learning to live with this reality due to ( Read more... )

Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

On March 3, in Moscow, Russian president Vladimir Putin presented his Belarusian counterpart Aliaksandr Lukashenka with the Order of Aleksandr Nevsky award. Ostensibly it marked his work in international cooperation in the service of the Russian Federation, linked perhaps to ( Read more... )

Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

The year 2015 will herald new presidential election in Belarus, certainly by the fall, and perhaps as early as March. It will be the fifth presidential election since the introduction of a national Constitution in 1994, and will mark Alexander Lukashenka’s 21st year in power.

( Read more... )

Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

The Ukrainian conflict has exposed growing ideological differences among Belarusians.

When Volha Krapotsina was distributing anti-Russian leaflets in Hrodna, a fellow citizen, who empathised with the Russian side, reported her to the police. In Minsk, while some distributed ( Read more... )

Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

Earlier this month, Russia introduced a full embargo on imports of meat, fish, dairy, fruit and vegetables from the European Union (EU), United States, Australia, Canada and Norway.

Moscow sought to retaliate for the sanctions imposed by the West following the downing of the ( Read more... )

Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

Belarus has made a few gestures of support towards Ukraine, a move which has put it at odds with Russian policy.

All of this is unfolding during a time when working relations between Belarus and several Central European countries are improving both economically and politically ( Read more... )

Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

On 10 March the EU Delegation to Belarus organised a conference entitled 'EU-Belarus Sectoral Cooperation: Looking Back and Looking Forward' in Minsk. Belarusian and European diplomats in attendance agreed that the crisis in Ukraine would not affect EU-Belarus relations as they ( Read more... )

Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

The Russian Parliament has approved the Russian president's request to use military forces in Ukraine. People sneer in social networks: he asked to approve the bringing of troops, which are already there.

But actually there is nothing to laugh about: while there is no gunshot ( Read more... )

Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

On 27 January, in an address to the State Border Committee, Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka sounded appeared to be in a cooperative mood with Brussels urging officials “to more effectively use the interests of the EU in creating a strong border.”

Border-related projects ( Read more... )