Belarus

Minsk
Uncategorized

Is Belarus benefiting from change in West’s perspective?

January 29, 2015 Grigory Ioffe 0

It is tempting to slip into a spiral of sensationalism when describing the concurrent trends in Belarus’s foreign relations and national aspirations, even though—if history is any guide—these trends may be reversed as abruptly as they started. So far, however, tensions have been on the rise along Belarus’s eastern flank; whereas, there has been steady improvement in Belarus’s relations with the West. According to the assessment of the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies, this has been the case since the very beginning of 2014. […]

Vytis Jurkonis

Vytis Jurkonis: Eastern Partnership is not Eurasian Union, no one is forced if there’s no interest

January 29, 2015 Lithuania Tribune 0

State Secretary of the Latvian Foreign Ministry Andrejs Pildegovičs met Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Vladimir Makey on the 23rd of January. The visit was formally related to the Latvian Presidency of the EU Council. The Latvian diplomat mentioned a few things, which seem to become traditional at the beginning of any presidential race in Belarus. […]

Anatoly Mikhailov
Society

Belarusian opposition accuses Vilnius-based European Humanities University leadership of authoritarianism

January 28, 2015 BNS 0

Members of the Belarusian opposition have turned to Lithuanian politicians for help over leadership of the European Humanities University (EHU) which is operating in Vilnius, saying it is transforming the exiled university into Russia’s fifth column, the Lietuvos Žinios daily reports. […]

Culture

Scholars offer recommendations for history policy makers of Lithuania and Belarus

January 19, 2015 Lithuania Tribune 0

Historical memory has a strong impact on the cohesion of political society. The historical memory of any given society is affected by a whole range of factors, such as the methodology and content of history teaching at school, the creation of various memorials and alternative sources of information about the past. Most of these factors depend on the political sphere and are a direct consequence of political or administrative decisions. In short, a consequence of state history policy. […]

No Picture
Uncategorized

Stratfor: Poland and Baltic states will continue to promote Ukraine’s Western ties

January 11, 2015 STRATFOR 0

As the standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine continues into 2015, the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will come to play an increasingly important role. Even before the crisis, the three Baltic states — as well as neighboring Poland — were among the most active EU member states attempting to bring Ukraine closer to the West and to challenge Russia’s role in the former Soviet periphery. Their efforts along these lines will intensify this year. Ultimately, however, more powerful players in the standoff will limit the impacts of their efforts, particularly Germany and the United States. […]

No Picture
Economy

Lithuanian trucks avoid Russia’s customs checks by going via Belarus

December 9, 2014 BNS 0

With Russia keeping thorough checks on Lithuanian vehicles in place for more than two weeks now, most Lithuanian truckers prefer to drive to Russia through Belarus rather than via Latvia, the president of the national haulers’ association Linava said on Monday. […]

Edward Lucas
Defence

Edward Lucas: Belarus is spying individually and acting as Russia’s proxy

November 11, 2014 BNS 0

Belarus is spying in Lithuania both individually and is also acting as a proxy for Russia, claims British journalist Edward Lucas, the author of a book on Russia’s spying. […]