| 11.01.2010 |
Minsk Forum: Belarus and EU Far Apart
Introduction:
The Minsk Forum took place on November 4th to 6th in Minsk. A year ago at a similar representative assembly, Head of the Presidential Administration Uladzimier Makiej made a sensational announcement – that the independent newspapers Nasha Niva and Narodnaya Vola would be included in the state system of distribution. |
| 11.01.2010 |
The Wall That Didnt Come Down
When change comes to Belarus, its leaders will likely be today’s youthful activists rather than the aging, fractious “opposition.” |
| 11.10.2009 |
Belarusian Should Be Belarus Sole Official Language
"It is necessary to restore the status of Belarusian language as the sole official language in Belarus," said Ales Marachkin, the outgoing chairman of the World Association of Belarusians BATSKAUSHCHYNA, in his speech at the Fifth Congress of Belarusians of the World, which began in Minsk on Saturday, July 18.. |
| 11.10.2009 |
Summer Solstice Festivity — Kupalle
In the very center of Minsk there is a place where the River Svislach makes a wide curve between the October and Victory squares. This meander nests an oasis of old moss-covered maples and trembling aspens. This park is named after a famous Belarusian poet and writer Yanka Kupala. It hosts the poet’s museum, his statue, and a fountain that features two nude, yet innocent-looking, bronze-cast girls throwing garlands into the water. Unlike the Gorky Park, which is right across the main avenue and is always full of young families with clouds of candy floss in their hands, the Kupala Park is a quiet place, suitable for reflection and tranquillity. |
| 11.10.2009 |
KGB Targets the Opposition
Humiliating treatment of Franak Vyachorka in the military unit has aggravated: he is being forced to speak Russian and constantly searched. |
| 11.10.2009 |
The New Life Church Appeals to UN
The Protestant community is struggling to keep its prayer house, which the Minsk authorities have already declared as property of the city. |
| 04.07.2009 |
Role of a Government in Exile
This article, originally a part of a presentation by the author, explores conditions that have affected Belarusian self-government since the early 20th century. The stresses of the Soviet period forced a new Government into exile and its operations beyond the borders of Belarus. In order to understand the present plight of this European nation, there is a need to consider the recent experiential history of Belarus and Belarusians. |
| 04.07.2009 |
Opposition Delivers Its Roadmap
Belarusian opposition leaders handed a Belarus democratization roadmap to a US Congress delegation during a meeting in Vilnius on Thursday, April 16, BelaPAN reported. |
| 04.07.2009 |
March 25 in Minsk. Dictatorships scare
Thousands of interior troops' soldiers were brought to Minsk on March 25. On the day when the country was celebrating the anniversary of proclamation of the Belarusian National Republic, the authorities in fact imposed a state of emergency in the capital. |
| 25.03.2009 |
Javier Solana Visits Belarus
On February 19, in the latest stage of the increasing rapprochement between the EU and Belarus, EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana visited Minsk and met with Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The meeting was perceived by several sources as a prelude to Belarus's acceptance into the Eastern Partnership Program (EPP), which could occur at the EU summit in Brussels on March 19 and 20. Minsk has also been visited by representatives of the Council of Europe, Prime Minister of Latvia Ivars Godmanis, and Polish Minister of the Economy Waldemar Pawlak (Belapan, February 23; European Radio for Belarus, February 20). |
| 25.03.2009 |
Belarus, Lithuania, and a Nuclear Power Plant in Search of a Solution
Debates are still ongoing on the issue of possible construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus. The suggested site is in the Astravets district in the northern part of Hrodna region - or just some fifty kilometres away from neighbouring Lithuania's capital of Vilnius. |
| 25.03.2009 |
OSCE Display of Cynicism Disappointing
Independent journalists are indignant over the Parliamentary Assembly of OSCE delegation’s assessment of the situation concerning freedom of expression in Belarus. |
| 25.03.2009 |
Congress of Assembly of Pro-democratic NGOs
The VI Congress of the Assembly took place in Minsk on March 6-7, 2009. With 330 participants, more than 30 foreign guests, and representatives of all major independent media present, the VI Congress was the biggest NGO Forum in the Assembly’s 12-year history. |
| 15.01.2009 |
“The China Syndrome”
Lifting of the EU sanctions against Alyaksandr Lukashenka has become a sensational event in the life of Belarus. It has happened despite of the fact that the “parliamentary elections” had been recognised as undemocratic and not free by the world community. Over the last week it has become obvious that many people understand the meaning of this event in a polar opposite way. And it is getting rather dangerous now. |
| 15.01.2009 |
An Uncommon Priest Wages War Against a Common Disease
"I promised to fight against alcoholism when I was only 12," Juozas Bulka remembers. "Already at that age, I realized that the unrestricted use of alcohol only leads a person towards evil and tragedy."
Dismissed by some as an eccentric, Belarus's Juozas Bulka, 83, has waged a tireless, lifelong crusade against the evils of alcohol. He's made believers out of many, but not everyone agrees with his methods. |
| 03.01.2009 |
It’s Time to Demonstrate Power
The nature of the “election” and its result is quite clear today. Democrats making up only 0.07% out of the total number of precinct commission members, vividly demonstrates the fact that the regime is not going to lose control over the chief element of the elections: the vote count. At the same time, opposition representatives make up about 40% of the total number of candidates for deputies, writes Andrei Sannikau, the leader of the civil campaign “European Belarus”. |
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