| 23.01.2011 |
A backfire in Belarus
For several years, diplomats in the European Union have nourished the notion that Belarusan President Alexander Lukashenko, long known as "Europe's last dictator," could be teased away from his alliance with Russia and induced to lead his country toward genuine independence and democracy. On Sunday night, that project blew up in Minsk's Independence Square. |
| 23.01.2011 |
Opinion - The EU Has no Choice But to Continue Dialogue With Belarus
Europe should condemn Lukashenko's harsh suppression of opposition protests,å says Deutsche Welle's Ingo Mannteufel — but there is no way it can avoid engaging in dialogue with his regime.It was clear from the start that incumbent Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko would have himself declared the resounding winner of the election, just as it was clear that afterwards, he would not be soft on the opposition. The adeptly staged polls were meant to simulate liberalisation without allowing any real democratic change to take place. |
| 23.01.2011 |
Belarus Police Arrest Opposition Leaders
Minsk, Belarus — The government of president Alexander G. Lukashenko on Monday carried out a sweeping crackdown on opposition leaders and their supporters, making arrests that drew scathing condemnations from western governments and seemed to imperil recent efforts to improve relations. |
| 23.01.2011 |
Wrong Carrot, Wrong Stick
.... Carrots and sticks are a good way of moving the recalcitrant, in agriculture and geopolitics alike. But what if the donkey is too thick-skinned to mind about the stick and says he prefers thistles to carrots? |
| 23.01.2011 |
STATEMENT
adopted by members of the Belarusan-American Association monitoring the results of the presidential election in Belarus on December 19, 2010. |
| 23.01.2011 |
No Business as Usual
The following is the conclusion of an Economist blog by Edward Lewis, dated December 23, 2010. In his blog the author questions some of the premises stated in a New York Times article by the four European Foreign Ministers “Lukashenka the Loser” |
| 23.01.2011 |
Blood and Special Operations in Belarus Politics
Presidential candidates severely beaten. Almost 700 protesters arrested. Criminal charges filed, and some recantations issued by protest participants that are reminiscent of Stalin's 1930s show trials. Ongoing arrests. House searches. These are the results of this year's presidential election in Belarus. |
| 23.01.2011 |
Demonstration in London
The following text was composed and distributed in front of the Belarus Embassy 19-21 December, 2010 by Belarusians of London and friends for freedom of Belarus. |
| 23.01.2011 |
In Belarus, a Slide Toward Eastern Aggression
On Sunday, the nation of Belarus held presidential elections. On Sunday evening, the police officers of Belarus handed out their verdict. By midnight, tens of thousands of people had been chased out of the main square in central Minsk, hundreds had been arrested and hundreds more severely beaten. Young people limped away from demonstrations with broken arms, bloody heads. Seven out of nine Belarusan presidential candidates were in jail. |
| 23.01.2011 |
Statement By the Rada of The Belarusian Democratic Republic in Exile
28th December 2010
The Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic (the BNR Rada) expresses its concern regarding the brutal repressions against opposition activists, political and human rights organisations, as well as journalists of the independent mass media, which have been unfolding in Belarus in the wake of the so-called presidential “elections” of 19 December, and which are currently gaining in scale. These repressions have involved not only the activists themselves but also their family members. |
| 23.01.2011 |
BNR Rada Rejects Election Results
The Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in Exile (BNR) condemns the brutal actions of the Lukashenka regime against the peaceful protest demonstration held in Minsk on 19 December. The BNR Rada calls on the West’s governments not to accept the results of the presidential election in Belarus, in so far as they were falsified, and the declared “winner” Alexander Lukashenka was constitutionally disqualified from running. |
| 22.01.2011 |
Lukashenka Holds Dialogue In Minsk With US Analysts
(Part Two)
Receiving a small group of US analysts in Minsk (EDM, December 15), President, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, appealed to the United States to develop a multi-track policy toward Belarus, instead of a single-dimensional policy [implying democracy-promotion divorced from everything else]. |
| 22.01.2011 |
30 Minutes after Four Years of Silence
... Anxious to show the EU that there has been some progress toward a better election process, the regime was forced to make some concessions concerning its monopoly over the broadcast media. For the first time since 1994, every candidate was given the opportunity to make two 30-minute, live TV addresses to the nation. For most, it was the first time they had been on television. |
| 22.01.2011 |
Belarus In A Season of Democratic Vagaries
Belarusian state-run television has begun to regularly broadcast messages that the current head of state is a dictator, the national economy is in shambles, the country has had no real elections since time immemorial, and that President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is on the verge of fleeing to his friend Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. |
| 22.01.2011 |
Internet Regulation Comes at a High Price
Belarus feels the impact of Internet regulation three months after passage of a new law. Users and providers alike have experienced privacy issues and censorship concerns. Belarusian journalist Iryna Vidanava investigates the impact of Decree #60 |
| 22.01.2011 |
HELSINKI COMMISSION CONDEMNS VIOLENCE
AMID ELECTIONS IN BELARUS
WASHINGTON--Despite some improvements, the violence against opposition demonstrators and journalists in Belarus during Sunday's election shows the long road ahead for democratic progress there, leaders of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) said today. |
| 22.01.2011 |
Lukashenka Compromises To Gain Moscow’s Support
On December 19, ten candidates will contest the Belarusian presidency. The election has been notably open, with several opposition candidates reaching out for support from Moscow, and the European Union offering encouragement to the incumbent president conditional on some basic requirements for a democratic process. However, belatedly the president has reached a pre-election agreement with Moscow on oil and gas imports to gain qualified support, at a high price. Opinion polls suggest that although Alyaksandr Lukashenka leads his rivals, he lacks a clear majority |
| 22.01.2011 |
Belarus’ Return to Europe
- Scholarly Conference in Warsaw-
This conference was held in Warsaw on November 12-14, 2010. Its full title was: ”Returning to Europe; Belarus’ Past and Future.” It was organized by the Institute of Civic Space and Public Policy at the Lazarski University of Warsaw, Poland, and co-financed by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation , the Open Society Institute, and the National Endowment for Democracy. |
| 22.01.2011 |
OSCE Media Freedom Representative: Belarus Needs Media Pluralism
MINSK, 27 October 2010 - Belarusian media and society need media pluralism, the OSCE Representative on Media Freedom, Dunja Mijatovic, said today, adding that her office is ready to offer support and advice as the country liberalizes and modernizes its media policy. |
| 22.01.2011 |
Belarus and China Signed $3.5 Billion Loan Agreement
Belarus and China have signed three loan agreements, eight commercial contracts and two framework agreements on the implementation of bilateral projects in energy, construction, industry, road and transport infrastructure for a total of $3.5 billion. The signing ceremony was held in Beijing during the visit of the Belarusian president to China on October 11. |
| 22.01.2011 |
The Center for Belarusian Studies Translation Initiative:
Access to Global Discourse, Critical Thinking, and Belarusian Civil Society
In October of 2009, the Center for Belarusian Studies brought together specialists in higher education from Belarus and North America in order to encourage exchange about conditions in higher education in Belarus, including the repercussions of censorship and state control on the building of a healthy civil society. One of the key strategies identified at this event focused on the absence of critical, globally derived/engaged discourse in the Belarusian language for use at the university level. The absence of such discourse, it was and is argued, severely affects the development of critical thinking and the recognition of personal investment in societal change. |
| 22.01.2011 |
Russian President’s Blog On Belarus
After reading the official English translation (http://eng.kremlin.ru/news/1052) of the Russian president’s October 3 blog, this writer has become concerned with the meaning of such phrases as ”united by... centuries-old history,” ”shared culture,” ”our single nation,” ”the Union State, CSTO,” ”our peoples will forever be fraternal,” and ”our nations are inextricably linked,” all implying that Russia still considers Belarus as an inherent part of the Russian Empire. President Medvedev seems to be ignorant of the fact that Russia, the USA, Great Britain and Belarus signed a memorandum at the December 1994 CSCE Budapest summit in which they guaranteed Belarus’ independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. |
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