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MINSK — Rights groups in Belarus say at least 350 protesters were detained in the capital and other cities on November 22 in the latest demonstrations challenging Alyaksandr Lukashenka's grip on power. The detentions in Minsk came despite organizers' efforts to decentralize their gatherings on the 106th day of protests, suggesting neither Lukashenka nor his opponents were prepared to give ground following record numbers of arrests each of the two previous Sundays.

Belarus's nuclear power plant, which was officially opened earlier this month, has resumed operations after suspending electricity production for several days. The Energy Ministry said on November 19 that the Astravets plant is sending electricity to the power grid and the first power unit is working at 40 percent of its 1,200-megawatt capacity. Just days after it was inaugurated, Belarus's only nuclear

The Belarusian Association of Journalists has won the Media Freedom Award, an honor bestowed by the governments of Britain and Canada for the first time in 2020, the foreign ministries of the two countries said on November 16. The Minsk-based group was singled out for its “ongoing commitment to journalistic ethics and principles and its perseverance and self-sacrifice in the face of increased targeted crackdowns on media in Belarus," the Canadian government said in a statement. The award was presented at the end of the second global conference on press freed

MEP Karin Karlsbro from the Swedish Liberal Party has sent a call for signatures on a letter to the European Parliament with a request not to host the 2021 World Championship in Minsk. It is addressed to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and its president, René Fassel. “Sports sho

The mass resignation of medical workers is imminent in Belarus, according to the collective appeal published in the «White Coats», the Telegram channels of protesting doctors. Doctors, nurses and support staff at medical institutions are planning to quit their jobs in protest to the ongoing repressions. «In an atmosphere of unprecedented lies and lawless

The prosecutor's office initiated an inspection of the Volha Zhadzeyeva's family, who had been awarded the Order of the Mother, after her children declared that they wanted to live in Belarus without violence. Volha Zhadzeyeva is a fashion expert, editor-in-chief of the Pret-a-portal.BY project and a mother of five children. Two years ago she was awarded

The authorities continue to put pressure on universities: the most active students are expelled, teachers and professors are fired. In some universities, students are obliged to sign papers prohibiting taking photos in universities or «breaking silence.»This pressure is beyond the rules of the Bologna process. Participation of Belarus in the Bologna Process also implies observance of academic freedoms. Euroradio is trying to find out whether Belarus will remain in the Bologna process. Belarus is Europe but not quite Belarus has bee

Roman Bondarenko, 31, died after being beaten by plainclothes police officers in Minsk Thousands of Belarusians have protested against the death in police custody of a military veteran and children’s art teacher arrested for his opposition to the authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko. Roman Bondarenko, a 31-year-old artist, was pummelled by several men believed to be plainclothes police officers in a Minsk courtyard known as the Square of Change on Wednesday in a dispute over ribbons indicating support for anti-government protests.

Foreign Office retaliates after expulsion of British diplomats following protests in Minsk Britain has expelled two Belarusian diplomats in response to the removal of two UK envoys from the former Soviet bloc country, the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has said. The move came after the British diplomats, including a defence attache, were ordered

“Who does the U.S. currently consider to be the legitimate leader of Belarus?” The U.S. found it di

Two people face a line of riot police during a protest in Minsk on Sunday. Hundreds of protesters have been injured by police in recent months.

During the electoral campaign and subsequent protests in Belarus, more than 900 criminal cases were opened against participants of the presidential race, their team members, as well as peaceful protesters, the deregistered Vesna human rights center reports. — Art. 293 [Riots] at least 157 persons; — Art. 342 [Organization or active participation in group acts that grossly violate public orde

Irina Markelova works as an endoscopist at the LODE Medical Center in Minsk. The woman was detained last Sunday near Nemiga metro station, when she was walking with her friends, Radio Svaboda writes “It started raining, I opened my red and white umbrella. Police vans immediately drove up to us, and ‘men in black’ pushed about 32 people in it.

ALL ORDINARILY RESIDENT (OR) APPLICANTS MUST HAVE THE REQUIRED WORK AND/OR RESIDENCY PERMITS TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR CONSIDERATION.The U.S. Mission in Belarus is seeking eligible and qualified applicants for the position of Computer Operator.Basic functions of position: Provides technical and Information Technology (IT) support for all Public Affairs Section (PAS) program activities.

Вакансия подразумевает знание английского языка.Уровень I (начальный/базовый).ALL ORDINARILY RESIDENT (OR) APPLICANTS MUST HAVE THE REQUIRED WORK AND/OR RESIDENCY PERMITS TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR CONSIDERATION.The U.S. Mission in Belarus is seeking eligible and qualified applicants for the position of Refrigeration / Air-conditioning Mechanic.Basic functions of position: Under the direct supervision of the maintenance supervisor the incumbent is responsible for maintaining of safe function of air conditioners and ventilation systems, simple electrical systems, fixtures and appliances in the Embassy, residences and offsite PAS section; responsible for preventive and corrective maintenance on above items.Applicants must address each required

Белоруссия появилась в 1991 году после распада советского блока. В XIII-XVIII веках страна была частью Великого княжества Литовского (позже Речи Посполитой), где официальным языком был старобелорусский. Затем эта территория вошла в состав Российской империи, после чего была разделена (1921-1939 гг.) между Польшей и СССР. Во время Второй мировой войны страна была оккупирована нацистами и потеряла четверть своего населения. В 1945 году вновь объединенная территория (за исключением Белостокской области) стала Белорусской Советской Социалистической Республикой.

Белоруссия появилась в 1991 году после распада советского блока. В XIII-XVIII веках страна была частью Великого княжества Литовского (позже Речи Посполитой), где официальным языком был старобелорусский. Затем эта территория вошла в состав Российской империи, после чего была разделена (1921-1939 гг.) между Польшей и СССР. Во время Второй мировой войны страна была оккупирована нацистами и потеряла четверть своего населения. В 1945 году вновь объединенная территория (за исключением Белостокской области) стала Белорусской Советской Социалистической Республикой.

Работы по интеграции Московского центрального кольца (МЦК) и Киевского направления Московской железной дороги (МЖД) планируется завершить в 2022 году. Будет построена новая станция Камушки, северный вестибюль которой будет связан с остановочным пунктом Деловой центр МЦК по принципу «сухие ноги», сообщили ТАСС в четверг в пресс-службе МЖД.

Абоненты белорусских операторов начали сообщать о проблемах с доступом в Сеть через мобильный интернет в Минске.По словам пользователей, затруднения с доступом в разных частях Минска начались около 14.30. Другие говорят, что проблемы заметили позже, в районе 14.45.

Blames foreigners and criminals“To begin with, I’ll say that I’m still alive and I’m not abroad, contrary to what our respected opponents allege,” the Belarusian leader said at a government conference on August 14.  He said the protests were instigated by foreigners and led by hardened criminals.Earlier the same day, Belarus extradited 33 suspected terrorists arrested in Belarus on July 29 back to Russia.Although Lukašenka pinned the protests on foreigners and criminals, teachers, doctors, workers, athletes, actors, priests and state media journalists joined demonstrations against police brutality on August 13 and 14. Authorities may reckon with workersWalkouts were reported at, among others, Minsk Electrotechnical Plant, Belarusian Steel

Эмблема изменилась в аккаунтах «Победы» во «ВКонтакте», в фейсбуке и инстаграме. На оригинальном логотипе авиакомпании изображены три кружочка разного оттенка голубого. В компании н

Эмблема изменилась в аккаунтах «Победы» во «ВКонтакте», в фейсбуке и инстаграме. На оригинальном логотипе авиакомпании изображены три кружочка разного оттенка голубого. В компании н

С 9 по 11 августа в Беларуси наблюдались проблемы с доступом в интернет как по фиксированной, так и мобильной связи. Ранее мы спрашивали у операторов, собираются ли они каким-либо образом компенсировать абонентам время «простоя». Вот что они ответили.Приводим комментарий, который нам предоставили в пресс-службе компании:В связи со сложностями с доступом к некоторым сервисам через мобильный и фиксированный интернет по независящим от компании причинам, руководством А1 принято решение о проведении корректировок абонентских плат абонентам мобильной связи, а также клиентам домашнего интернета и телевидения — физическим и юридическим лицам — за трое суток в период с 9 августа по 11 августа включительно, в соответствии со следующим

It is evident that there is an attempt at “organizing a massacre in downtown Minsk” in the run-up to the presidential election, Aliaksandr Lukašenka said Tuesday in his address to the nation and the National Assembly.The Belarusian leader accused no one directly of the “massacre” plot, but said that “modern information weapons” were being used to manipulate people's conscious and subconscious mind for the purpose of pitting them against each other and provoking them into criminal offenses.Social media are being widely used for spreading shameless lies and slinging mud, Mr. Lukašenka noted.According to him, he is a tolerant man, likes the pluralism of opinions and will accept any choice of the nation in the presidential election.

История с задержанием российских бойцов ЧВК в Белоруссии – демонстративный акт предательства со стороны Александра Лукашенко. Об этом в своем блоге пишет известный российский военкор Дмитрий Стешин.

Administrative Assistant, GS5 — Minsk, Belarus #102885, Open to nationals of Belarus only!The Administrative Assistant is accountable for procedural and some specialized communications, operational and administrative support services.

Aliaksandr Lukašenka revealed Friday that a total of 15 people had been arrested in the Belgazprombank case opened by the State Control Committee`s Department for Financial Investigations under his order.“Frankly speaking, I don’t know the details yet,” Mr. Lukašenka told reporters during his visit to Polack, Viciebsk region.

We have always believed and are still convinced that the economic future of Belarus depends on whether structural economic reforms will be carried out. Our message remains unchanged: today, structural reforms are even more important and relevant than it was in the past. The Belarusian economic model the country chose around 2003 is currently under severe stress. Belarus has consumed more than it has produced for a long time and thereby making significant progress in terms of improving the living standards of people. There are not so many ways to close the gap. The country is like a family. If you consume more than you earn, this is due to the depletion of your own savings and reserves, external borrowing or help from other countries. The ability to use all these options has recently been declining. The state of balance leaves much to be desired: household savings are running out, and it is more difficult for the country to borrow from its traditional lenders. As a result, the country has to live within its means: it cannot afford the previous level of state support for agricultural enterprises, subsidizing heating services for the population. The need for structural transformations became much more acute in 2017 when foreign debt reached 130% of exports than in 2003 when it was only 30%. The Roadmap is a process of in-depth technical discussions and consultations of the World Bank and the authorities in 2016–2017, and then in 2018–2019. The roadmap includes five chapters. The first and most important is the real economy. We focus on the situation with state-owned enterprises and competition policy. State-owned enterprises use national capital less effectively than private ones. They create a debt burden that increases the need for borrowing, including external borrowing. Economic growth is impossible without the effective use of capital. If Belarus continues to borrow outside the country in order to support its state-owned enterprises, its position will remain very fragile. The World Bank does not insist on large-scale privatization. Some businesses will work better if they become private. Others may well remain state-owned, be restructured and made subject to market discipline. Some businesses will have to be closed down. Another chapter of the roadmap is social protection. Belarus needs a broad and effective unemployment protection program. Expenditures on unemployment benefits in Belarus amount to 0.006% of GDP. The cost of targeted social assistanc...

«When [Russian] parent companies withdraw part of their net profit, they do not confront with our agreements with Russian businesses, Belarusian and international laws. However, it would be desirable of profit made here is directed in the first place at the development of production and capacity, which create this profit. Re-investment should be taking place in the first place,» Myasnikovich said. Talking about the Belarus-Russia relations, he stressed that there is no need to revise the agreement on the union state of Belarus and Russia. In the view of Myasnikovich, the Belarusian and Russian working groups that have been negotiating those matters could have all the issues finalized by 8 December. There is no need to introduce a single currency either because there are no equal conditions for economic entities and no unified legislation. «It will simply make no sense. It could even be harmful,» Myasnikovich said.

Belarus jumped impressive 14 places to be named the 72nd most innovative country. The Global Innovation Index 2019 released on Wednesday says that despite signs of slowing economic growth, innovation continues to blossom. Switzerland was named the most innovative country in the world, a position it has held since 2011, followed by Sweden, the U.S., the Netherlands, and the U.K., Finland, Denmark, Singapore.

According to the Russian media Kommersant, it was known about the pollution of Russian oil by organochlorine in Druzhba pipeline two weeks before Belneftekhim filed the relevant complaint. According to the publication, the Volgograd oil refinery of Lukoil recorded harmful impurities on April 4. This lasted until April 12. There was an appeal to the enterprise Transneft-Privolga in this case. Both Transneft and Lukoil acknowledged that there had been such a problem, but it was not related to the subsequent problems at the Druzhba pipeline. How organochlorine compounds could have got into oil was not explained. A Kommersant source claims that it's standard practice to supply oil to refineries with a slight excess of organochlorine content. On April 19, the Belarusian side reported that the Druzhba pipeline had poor quality oil (the content of organochlorine was many times higher than the permissible norm). The transit of oil to Europe via Belarus was stopped. Interestingly, Russia considered that oil was polluted on purpose (according to the investigation, it was done to conceal the theft) and initiated a criminal case. Due to the fact that the polluted oil spoils the process equipment at the refineries, Belarusians are waiting for compensation, but the exact amount of losses is still unknown.

The governmental problem in Ukraine ‘has been more or less solved’ after the recent presidential and parliamentary elections, Lukashenka claimed. It is essential that the situation in Ukraine is stabilized and the Belarusian President is expecting Brussels to render assistance. “I am asking you to pass this signal to the European Union no matter how difficult it may be for you now when you are leaving for another country (Viktorin will represent the EU interests in Armenia): Ukraine needs support,” Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s press service quotes the President. Kiev is oriented on Brussels more than on Moscow or Minsk. That is why the European Union that said “A”, should also say “B” and support the Ukrainian people now.

And a 39-year-old former collective farm director with a deep, nasal voice and a knack for populist pronouncements won the first — and so far only — democratic presidential election in Belarus. Alyaksandr Lukashenka was sworn in on July 20, 1994, beginning the first of five presidential terms — and counting. Europe and the world have undergone startling transformations over the last quarter-century but the presence of Lukashenka has been a constant. Or has it? The wily leader of this resource-poor nation of 10 million bordering Russia, Ukraine, and three European Union and NATO countries has proven endlessly flexible in his constancy, turning his country into a textbook example of adaptive authoritarianism. To the surprise of most observers, the political neophyte Lukashenka proved from the beginning to be an adroit politician with formidable instincts. At a turbulent time he tapped a vein of conservatism in Belarus, whose citizens overwhelmingly voted against the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1991 referendum and have often sought stability but had to settle for stagnation. He moved quickly to lay the foundations of the authoritarian system that has become entrenched under his rule by holding a constitutional referendum in 1996 that extended his term to 2001, gave his decrees the force of law, and gave him virtually complete control over the state budget. With these powers, he quickly established personal control over all key institutions — the judiciary, election commissions, unions, law enforcement and security agencies, all major media, and so on.

«For objective reasons, i.e. contaminated oil, we had to use oil that we extract locally to keep our refineries running. Disrupted supplies of Russian oil have affected our export statistics this year — minus $800 million against last year. Obviously, it was very difficult to cover this gap at the cost of other sectors,» the minister admitted. Euroradio reported earlier that on 19 April Belnaftakhim detected sudden deterioration of Russian crude oil's quality in the Druzhba pipeline. Both Belarusian refineries — in Mazyr and Navapolack — had to reduce their load and suffered losses. Several other countries served by the Druzhba pipeline — Poland, Germany and Ukraine — would refuse from contaminated Russian oil. Clean oil reached the border of Belarus via the Druzhba pipeline on 2 June only.

«Today we have a program. This is more or less a strategic document. And today we have a big volume or, to put it in plain language, a heap of current problems. The Group and the governments see these problems. And we have developed a program, which, according to government estimates, has been agreed upon by 80-90%,» says Alyaksandr Lukashenka. What are these contentious issues or «current problems»? In fact, there are quite a few of them. If we talk about the main issues, it is compensation for the Russian tax maneuver, determination of the gas price for Belarus for the next year, payment of long promised Russian loans. All these «controversial issues» from Moscow, from the representatives of the Russian government, were answered by the following: «First, integration, then...». It seemed that after the talks between the leaders of Belarus and Russia in St. Petersburg, the question of what would come «first» was removed from the agenda, but... The Forum of Regions ended, and the leaders went home, but «current problems» reminded of themselves. «Tax maneuver is a sovereign right of Russia, so it's unlikely to be correct to talk about any „compensation“ for Minsk, we may talk about possible assistance to Belarus in mitigating the consequences of its introduction,» said Deputy Foreign Minister Grigori Karasin to RIA Novosti on July 19. According to Associate Professor of Political Science at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Kirill Koktysh, such a development of events was to be expected. After all, Russia's goal today is to limit any financial support to Belarus. «It will be very profitable for Russia today to reduce the amount of money, which it used to give to Belarus, retaining the existing status of relations. The tactics is simple: pay a little less for the existing union. From Moscow, it sounds like: „First integration, then negotiations on gas prices. The same applies to Russian loans or compensation for tax maneuver. Minsk says that this is unacceptable for Belarus. In Moscow, they rub their hands: “Well, then, no loans and compensation, and pay as much for gas as we tell you! If nothing is done, if there are no counter-proposals and initiatives from Minsk, the Russian government will be able to implement this game. After all, when you remain just an object, you do not offer anything, you do not make any moves in response and just say „this can't be right, it's wrong,“ it won't work, because everyone will play in their favor,...

«Today there are no obstacles to closer dialogue not only on economic but also political matters. Belarus is ready for this. Let us move forward in this direction, without waiting for any kind of event: be it parliamentary or presidential elections. I think our relations are more important than any political campaigns in Belarus or in your countries,” Lukashenka said. The head of state highlighted Andrea Wiktorin's great contribution to the development of relations between Belarus and the European Union. He also expressed gratitude for the financial support that the EU provides to the projects in Belarus, including those to develop infrastructure. Andrea Wiktorin, on her part, said that over the past few years Belarus and the European Union have been able to build a relationship of trust. “We engage in an open dialogue on political themes, economic issues and also on specific, individual matters such as trade, customs, and so on,” she said. Andrea Wiktorin, the current head of the EU Delegation to Belarus, has been nominated as head of the EU Delegation to Armenia. The designated new Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Belarus is German diplomat Dirk Schuebel who currently heads the EEAS Russia Division.

He also said that last year the trade turnover between the countries increased by 9.4%, mainly due to supplies from Russia. This year's trade volumes are slightly below last year's levels. Syamashka believes it will be good if we manage to exceed last year's level. Elaborating on the discrimination of Belarusian products in the Russian market, he mentioned that last year the supply of milk from Belarus to Russia decreased, and this year this situation is still the same. The Russian market is fully or partially closed for 62 Belarusian dairy companies today. About 40 meat processing plants and eight fish processing plants found themselves in the same conditions. «It's nonsense, it shouldn't be like this. Our products are normal and have an appropriate and well-deserved reputation in the Russian market,» the diplomat said, outraged. There are also problems with the supply of Belarusian equipment to Russia. For example, exports of Gomselmash have decreased by 40%. «It is a totally competitive product, but there are barriers,» stated Syamashka.

“Our Union Treaty will turn 20 this December. I believe we can’t leave any unsolved issue beyond that date. We are pressed for time. What shall we say when we celebrate the anniversary? There will be nothing for us to say if we fail to resolve all the remaining issues and don’t sign the program shaping the strategy of our joint actions,” President Lukashenko said in St. Petersburg on 18 July. “Therefore, I suggest we sort out all issues before that date within the Supreme State Council and adopt a program that will define our action strategy and resolve current problems,” he added. The Belarusian leader also pointed out that people of both countries had long been looking forward to the presidents to make specific decisions.

In the second quarter of 2019, the IT sector ranked second (12.4% of the total number of vacancies), second only to sales. Programming, Development and Engineering traditionally headed the list of the most popular specializations among IT applicants and employers. Software Testing, for the first time in a long time, got into the top 5. Competition in IT is stable since the end of 2018 – 2.8 resumes for 1 vacancy. QA-engineers, Java-developers and PHP-developers became the most demanded in the 2nd quarter, as well as in the 1st quarter. Below are the most popular positions with salary analytics.

‘The tax maneuver’ is “Russia’s sovereign right so it is not right to discuss any ‘compensation’”, Russian deputy Foreign Minister Yegor Karasin told ria.ru. It is only possible to talk about ‘some facilitation of the consequences for Belarus’, he noted. This issue is being worked on and the decision will be ‘complex’, Karasin said. All attempts to assess the situation are untimely, he thinks. A compensation for the tax maneuver may only be given to Belarus after ‘the joint approach to integration is defined’, Russian senior vice PM and Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov said earlier. Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Vladimir Putin have recently met in Saint Petersburg and agreed to decide all points in Belarus-Russia relations by the end of 2019.

The report was published by the United Nations, Emerging Europe writes. Countries in the report were evaluated on 17 key criteria for sustainable development, including eliminating poverty and hunger, establishing quality education, providing access to clean water and sanitation, promoting responsible consumption and production, having access to a decent workplace and contributing to the economic growth. Belarus appears in Top 25, according to EE, and neighbors Croatia (22nd) and Latvia (24th). Other countries in Top 25 are Estonia (10th), Slovenia (12nd), Croatia (22nd), Hungary (25th), while Montenegro closes the index, ranking only 87th. Four years after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement, no country is on track to meet all the goals. Overall, emerging Europe’s countries obtain their best performance when it comes to erasing poverty and promoting affordable and clean energy. For instance, the leader of the ranking Czech Republic scored best in the No Poverty index, having already met the criteria for achieving this goal. However, major challenges remain in the area of Climate Action, although only Latvia performed slightly better. Still, compared to other regions, when it comes to the rule of law, peace, justice, and strong institutions, CEE lags behind, due to relatively high perceived corruption in some countries, poor freedom of speech or insecurity.

The letter says that as a result of the bad quality oil getting into the Belarusian main pipeline system, the transportation of raw materials to Adamava and Brody was suspended. So far, the transportation in the direction of Adamava has been carried out partially. Due to such force majeure, the Belarusian company lost $23.7 million. The losses were calculated taking into account additional revenues from oil transportation in the reverse direction. Consequently, the volumes of transportation decreased and the level of current tariffs does not allow to cover operational costs linked to the maintenance of the main oil pipeline facilities, as well as the implementation of the technical re-equipment program in 2019. The Russian Transneft has not yet commented on the proposals of the Belarusian side. In April, the Russian oil polluted with chlorides entered the pipeline system in Belarus. In this regard, the transit of raw materials to Europe was stopped on April 24. Supplies of clean oil later resumed, but Belarus still has to clear its pipeline system of substandard oil and this process will only end in mid-August. The annual volume of Russian oil transit through Belarus is about 50 million tons. The proposal to raise tariffs was made in mid-April, and Minsk explained it by the need to preserve the environmental safety of pipelines. However, Russia did not support this proposal, citing its lack of justification. Then the issue of tariff increase was overshadowed after the polluted oil incident.

Lukashenko likely thought hosting the games would be an opportunity to rally Belarusians around his leadership. Instead, his country is feeling increasingly anxious amid mounting tensions with Russia. Russian president Vladimir Putin's attendance for the closing ceremony on June 30 didn't calm the situation. Ever since winning the presidential election in 1994, Lukashenko has ruled the country with an iron fist, obsessed with staying in power. He disappeared several opponents and critics in the late 1990s. In 2006, he resorted to fraud to secure victory in the presidential election and cracked down violently against his opponents. The United States and European Union in turn slapped sanctions on him and his regime. After Lukashenko released all the political prisoners in 2008, the West eased sanctions; they reimposed sanctions after another bad election and crackdown in 2010. They lifted them almost entirely after the 2015 elections, which did not see a repeat of the crackdown in previous elections; this easing of sanctions also came against the backdrop of Putin's illegal annexation of Crimea and invasion of Ukraine. Before Putin, the doddering Boris Yeltsin was Lukashenko's Russian counterpart, and Lukashenko was convinced he could outmanoeuvre Yeltsin. Lukashenko thought a union treaty between Minsk and Moscow signed in December 1999 would be the path for him to run the two countries together. Lukashenko's plans were scuttled, however, when Putin replaced Yeltsin as Russian president. In Putin, Lukashenko found himself with a new Russian leader who had no intention of serving as second fiddle. Putin steadily pursued a more assertive policy toward Russia's neighbours, including invasions of Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014. Pressure on Belarus grew as well, as Putin reduced oil subsidies and other financial support to Belarus. He convinced Lukashenko to join various regional entities — the Collective Security Treaty Organization and Eurasian Economic Union – as part of an effort to establish a Russian sphere of influence. Putin also wants to set up a military base in Belarus, which would take to another level the increasing integration of Belarusian and Russian military and security forces. The recent report of the International Strategic Action Network for Security clearly demonstrates Putin's «creeping assault on the sovereignty of Belarus.» More recently, the Russia-Belarus union, dating back to 1999, is back in fashion, because formalising suc...

The visit of Guterres was discussed at the UN headquarters in New York, Belarus MFA told the media. The Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN Valentin Rybakov and UN Secretary-General António Guterres met on Wednesday, 17 July 2019. The officials discussed preparation of a High-Level International Conference “Combating terrorism through innovative approaches and the use of new and emerging technologies” that is organized by Belarus and the UN. The conference will take place in Minsk on 3-4 September. Rybakov and Guterres also “exchanged views on the most pressing issues in the field of international relations, as well as on the state and prospects of cooperation between Belarus and the UN”. According to Belarus MFA, the UN Secretary-General highly praised the efforts of Belarus in strengthening international and regional security.

4 hours instead of 6.5. Test drives of a new train are underway, local media report. The maximum speed of the train is 140 km/h; it will ride through Luninets, Lyakhovichi, Gantsevichi, and Baranovichi. Railway workers said the route might start working in about two weeks. It will be running on Fridays, weekends and holidays.

The level of patriotism in the U.S. is at a very high level even despite a slight decline in indicators. According to a survey by the Gallup Paul agency, the level of patriotism in the U.S. in 2013 was 85%, down from 92% in 2002.

The reasons are low birth rates and migration in Europe. In this regard, the IMF recommends demographic reforms, including some for Belarus. The experts claim that the reduction of the population entails three negative consequences. First, it will have a negative impact on economic growth, living standards and financial stability. Secondly, as the population ages, the pressure on health care and pension systems will increase. Third, the ageing of the population will affect the economic productivity. For each country, the IMF experts propose their own measures. In particular, it is recommended to raise the retirement age for Belarus. «Pension age reform is likely to be required in most countries of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, but it will be especially expedient in Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine — both in terms of the number of labor force and financial stability,» the report says. In addition, the IMF experts recommend that Belarusian authorities pay attention to the employment of women, as well as of people over 55 years of age. The latter measure, according to experts, could be very effective: «Belarus would get a great benefit if it would increase the employment of older people even without raising the retirement age. Back in 2016, the IMF strongly recommended that Belarusian authorities continue pension reforms in order to close the pension gap after 2022. The experts of the Fund advised to raise the pension plan for both men and women under 65 years old.

In simple terms, they are checking whether the apples that soon might be labelled ‘made in Belarus’ do grow in the country. In April, Rosselkhoznadzor, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision, imposed temporary restrictions on the imports of apples and pears from Belarus claiming that it makes deliveries of sanctioned food of EU origin to Russia. Rosselkhoznadzor stressed the agency did not receive reliable information about the volume of imports and the volume of goods that passed through the procedure of customs clearance in our country. This leads to falsification of the goods’ true country of origin, the Russian side added. Over the past two days, Rosselkhoznadzor experts have made a number of visits to Belarusian gardens. According to the watchdog, they are estimating the production capacity of farms in Brest, Vitsebsk and Hrodna. They came to Belarus at the invitation of Alyaksandr Piskun, Director of the Main State Inspectorate on Seed-growing, Quarantine and Plant Protection. In May, Rosselkhoznadzor said they had no intention to lift the ban. In late June, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a decree extending ‘specific economic measures against countries that imposed sanctions against Russia until December 31, 2020. Since August 2015, Russia has destroyed about thousands of tons of food from countries that were put under the Russian food embargo. Most of these products made it into Russia through Belarus. Belarusian companies gained notoriety for purchasing food products ‘made in the EU’, ‘editing’ some inscription on their packages and then delivering them to Russia which took retaliation measures against the bloc for its sanctions list and support of Ukraine.

Belarus is negotiating with Russia about the compensation for the oil tax maneuver. Both sides have reached understanding in the issue but Russians are saying that final decisions can be made only after the integration becomes deeper, the diplomat said.«I believe that these things should not be bound. The impending issues need to be solved. They should have been solved long ago – on January 31, 2019,” Syamashka announced. Belarus and Russia are supposed to sign a visa agreement by the end of the year, the diplomat added. Both states have finished domestic procedures needed to approve the documents and are waiting for a good political moment, he said.

The British magazine points out that Svetlana Alexievich who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2015 is the first non-fiction writer to do so. It also underlines the fact that soon after the winning her works have been freshly translated into English. “Alexievich’s interviews with Russian soldiers in Afghanistan, Chernobyl survivors, people who were children in the war with Germany and many others produce moving accounts of suffering in the Soviet world. Her technique of collating highly-edited transcripts with little or no context has been criticised as being more myth-making than accurate history. But there’s no denying the courage and artistry of a writer who counts Vladimir Putin among her opponents,” a brief description of the Belarusian writer reads. Recall that Alexievich was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature hugely admired Second-Hand Time that was described as “a monument to suffering and courage in our time”. It has been half a century since a writer working primarily in non-fiction won the Nobel – Svetlana Alexievich is the first journalist and writer from Belarus to win the award.

Currently, the statements of the Belarusian side on diversification of oil supplies is an attempt to blackmail Russia. In reality, the Lukashenka team do not take any measures aimed to diversify oil supplies. It is highly unlikely that in response to increasing US military contingent in Poland Lukashenka would agree to deploy Russian military contingent or Russian military bases. Lukashenka will bid for the presidency at the presidential elections that are to take place in 2020, after the parliamentary elections. In the next presidential term, he will be thinking of a successor. Lukashenka speaks of a new Constitution, meaning the forthcoming hand over of the authority to a successor. Despite the growing disagreements in the issues of the integration within the union state, the Kremlin and Lukashenka will not announce the end to the project. On December 13, 2018, the Vice Premier of Russia Dmitriy Medvedev claimed: “Russia is ready to keep moving on the way of building up the union state, including the creation of the single currency emission centre, the unified customs, courts, auditing chamber.” Since then, practically every month the sides have been exchanging statements of strongly different variants of developments in the relations within the union state. The Russian side suggests discussing its initiatives on deepening integration. On December 14, Lukashenka claimed: “If someone wants to pop us into Russia – that will never happen… Under the pretext of the deep integration, Moscow wants to incorporate Belarus into Russia. I understand these hints: get the oil, but go ahead, ruin the state and enter Russia.” Lukashenka claimed that it is through Russia’s fault the union state has not yet been created. The union implies equal rights, equal conditions for economic subjects. And these conditions are getting more and more uneven. According to Lukashenka, currently, the Belarusian enterprises pay 200 USD for a thousand cubic metres of gas, whereas Russian enterprises pay 60 USD. Commenting on the statements from Medvedev regarding the unified emission centre and unified customs, Lukashenka claimed that Russia offered “to create the union from the roof, and not from the basement”. Such basement, in his opinion, is the creation of equal conditions for economy subjects, i.e. supplies of oil and gas at home Russian prices and absence of barriers for Belarusian exports to Russia. The problem is not about the logic or sequence of integration (basement-roof),...

«We planned to get another loan from Russia, but we postponed the issue, since we have found an alternative with our Chinese partners,» Byalkavets said on July 9. Byalkavets's statement came weeks after Finance Minister Maksim Yermalovich said that his country had been seeking to borrow money from a country other than Russia due to mounting differences in bilateral relations.

In Belarus, criminals are executed for the most heinous and brutal crimes. Since 2007, there were less than five death sentences per year. However, the very existence of capital punishment distinguishes Belarus not only from the rest of Europe but also from other post-USSR countries. The European Union and the Council of Europe don’t neglect a single death sentence in Belarus, usually reacting with the statements of condemnation. For many European capitals, the death penalty is a dark stain on Belarus’s reputation that seriously hinders the development of mutual relations. The death penalty doesn’t prevent the EU from building relations with other countries, such as China, Japan, or the bastion of democracy – the United States. When the argument is brought up in a conversation with Western diplomats, one always hears the same mantra: “this is Europe, and there is no place for the death penalty.” The EU insists on the moratorium not only because of some European values but also because this concession is politically convenient, it is very easy to record. It’s not clear how to measure freedom of speech or assembly, while the death penalty – either you have one or you don’t. For the EU, this is an understandable criterion of progress. Most often, the government refers to public opinion, particularly to the referendum of 1996, where the majority voters voted in favor of retaining the death penalty. Truth be told, independent polls also show that Belarusians don’t support the abolition of capital punishment. But since when this was a problem for the authorities? What’s stopping the government then? There can be two explanations: either Lukashenko is really a staunch supporter of capital punishment or he doesn’t want to sell this concession cheaply. Some officials familiar with the subject admit that attempts to lobby for a moratorium on the death penalty within the system always rested on the unequivocal refusal of the president. The second reason – the lack of a counteroffer from the EU – looks more realistic. For moral reasons, the EU cannot simply offer Minsk a bag of money for stopping the executions. In general, in Brussels, there are neither the means to work with Belarus nor the enthusiasm to buy any concessions. On the upside, since the moratorium on the death penalty is a one-time favor, Minsk doesn’t want to give a trump card for nothing. Therefore, there are only two ways out. Either the EU should radically reconsider its relations with Belarus a...

213,000 tickets sold! Ticket sales reached 213,000, the official said in a recent interview. Of them, 12,700 were purchased by foreigners, according to the official. “Other 7,000 were invited by various public organizations to participate in the Games. This makes 20,000 visitors. Plus, 15,000 ticket packages were sold by travel companies.” The total official number of guests from other countries is 35,000, Kovalchuk said. “Not to mention the guests who came on their own,” the official added. 2nd European Games took place in Minsk on 21-30 June 2019. The Games were named one of the biggest sports events of the summer with 50 participating countries, 15 sports, and over 4,000 athletes. The leader of the medal count was the Russian team with 109 medals. 221 Belarusian athletes won 69 medals, including 24 gold ones.

Support for agriculture is a key task. “We are determined to keep agriculture support at the same level, maybe even expand it a bit,” Aleksandr Turchin said. He added there is still space for concessions in the talks, whereas Belarus is aware of the lines it can’t cross. Belarus is ready for a compromise, but without compromising its own interests, First Vice Prime Minister stressed. Turchin said that Russian and the USA have the most rigid stance in the talks, but it helps Belarus have a new angle on many issues. “We’ve achieved significant progress in a short time,” the official said. According to him, Belarus has a good chance to finish all the formalities by the Twelfth Ministerial Conference in June 2020 in Kazakhstan. The final draft of the agreement should be ready by 2019 year-end or early 2020.

Five times from the current figure. Speaking in a meeting with the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, Vladimir Makei said that the country’s tourism industry now accounted for 2.2% of the GDP. The figure could rise considerably with the assistance of the UN’s agency, among others. “In order to achieve this goal, Belarus is set to amend domestic laws, improve tourist services at national and local levels, promote Belarus abroad, and look at the world’s best practices and UNWTO recommendations,” the foreign minister added. The UNWTO Secretary-General praised Belarus for introducing short-term visa-free travel for international visitors interested in traveling to the country. The two parties also discussed areas of cooperation for the future, including the possibility of international events with UNWTO assistance to boost tourist industry in the country.

For the citizens of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, the fee will not change. They will continue to pay 35 euros for the visa — this amount is specified in the agreements of these countries with the EU to simplify the issuance of visas. The corresponding regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June has been published by the Official Journal of the European Union today.

The remains of two dozen participants of the January Uprising (1863-1864) were found in Vilnius earlier, Euroradio reported. The remains of Kastus Kalinouski, national hero of Belarus, could also be among them. Those people were executed by the Russian authorities. Lithuanian experts are 95% sure that the remains of Kaslus Kalinouski have been found. Vilnius has asked Minsk to exhume Kastus’ brother Viktar in order to prove it. A solemn reburial of the insurgents will be organized in Vilnius in autumn. Most of the executed people originated from Belarus.

«My concern about such secrecy in the work on integration of the two states is caused by the threat of loss of real independence and sovereignty of Belarus… as well as an unexpected forced integration process,» Kanapatskaya wrote on her Facebook page. She stressed that the Belarusian society is also concerned about this problem. «The lack of information on this subject, its secrecy, only fuels concern and social tension within Belarus,» said the deputy. Despite the fact that the head of state and officials reassure people, saying that there is no threat to independence, Belarusians see ultimatums, pressure and blackmail from the Russian leadership. Deputy Hanna Kanapatskaya demands that «full information about the ongoing processes of integration of Russia and Belarus» as well as about the work of the Belarusian working group and the joint group with the Russians on integration be provided to her. Kanapatskaya also demands that the media produce regular reports on the «integration» negotiations. «The issue of independence and sovereignty of Belarus is one of the few and the most important ones that unites the authorities, the opposition and the Belarusian people,» writes MP Kanapatskaya. «Thus, only openness in this matter will allow to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the country, as well as to consolidate the Belarusian society,» says the MP. On July 9, Alyaksandr Lukashenka spoke about the work of the joint group on integration. He saw in the actions of Russians «one promises» and «slowing down of the processes».

Alyaksandr Lukashenka commented on the work of the joint Belarus-Russia group on integration during his meeting with the Union State Secretary Ryhor Rapot. The group was supposed to analyze all the problems in the relations of the two states. “There are only promises,” Lukashenka’s press service quotes him. “When the work group encountered an issue, the Russian government including PM Medvedev started promising to give all the corresponding orders to comprehensively solve the problems. This is their negotiation tactics: to keep promising and forgetting. It means that these processes are being deliberately hindered.” As a result, he has nothing to discuss with Vladimir Putin, the President said. Meanwhile, they have two meetings scheduled for the near future. Alyaksandr Lukashenka has asked Ryhor Rapota “to strictly put the question to Russia since we need to get certain results in just a few days.”