Belarus

Since 1994, Alyaksandr Lukashenka has ruled Belarus without a serious challenger. Then came the August 2020 presidential election, when opposition candidates proved more viable than ever before amid the country’s poor economic performance and mismanaged coronavirus response. Widespread protests and serious fraud allegations have marred Lukashenka’s claimed election victory. The opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has fled the country, raising questions about whether the protest movement will endure and whether Lukashenka will manage to stay in power for his new term. The future of Belarus now hinges on what its people and its strongman do next.

Featured Event

A conversation with leader of the democratic opposition in Belarus Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

What can officials in the United States do to support the democratic movement in Belarus in the face of continuing repression and state terror from Lukashenka’s regime? Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the democratic opposition in Belarus, joins live from the Atlantic Council to discuss.

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Belarus

Belarus’ August 2020 presidential election saw widespread protests and serious fraud allegations as President Lukashenka claimed victory against popular opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Will Belarus begin its transition to democracy, or will Belarusians face further repression as Lukashenka’s rule falters?

Dialog of dictators: How Putin and Lukashenka really talk to each other

UkraineAlert Aug 13, 2024

Belarus’s political prisoners must not be forgotten

New sanctions unveiled in August have highlighted the plight of Belarus’s approximately 1,400 political prisoners, but much more must be done to increase pressure on the Lukashenka regime, writes Hanna Liubakova.

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Dialog of dictators: How Putin and Lukashenka really talk to each other

UkraineAlert Jul 25, 2024

The West should articulate the possibility of a European future for Belarus now

By Richard Cashman

Failure to articulate the possibility of a European future for Belarus leaves the Euro-Atlantic community at risk of being caught off guard without a plan when Belarus reaches its fork in the road, writes Richard Cashman.
Belarus Conflict
Dialog of dictators: How Putin and Lukashenka really talk to each other

UkraineAlert Jul 16, 2024

I was sentenced to ten years in absentia for highlighting Belarus’s descent into dictatorship

By Alesia Rudnik

My recent ten-year sentence in absentia is a sure sign that Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka is increasingly insecure and dependent on the Kremlin, writes Alesia Rudnik.
Belarus Civil Society

Content

BelarusAlert

May 19, 2021

Dialog of dictators: How Putin and Lukashenka really talk to each other

By Brian Whitmore

Meetings between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka have become more frequent since the outbreak of anti-regime protests in Belarus last year, but details remain vague.

Belarus Politics & Diplomacy

BelarusAlert

May 12, 2021

Time to sanction the Putin-Lukashenka “axis of autocrats”

By Brian Whitmore

Callings are growing for the international community to impose sanctions against the Putin-Lukashenka axis rather than just on the Belarusian regime.

Belarus Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

BelarusAlert

May 5, 2021

Belarus sanctions: Time to target Russia?

By Brian Whitmore

Can sanctions against Belarus be separated from sanctions against Russia? Or should sanctions against the two countries be treated as part of a coherent whole, effectively sanctioning the Putin-Lukashenka axis?

Belarus Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

BelarusAlert

Apr 28, 2021

Lukashenka’s succession gambit: Kremlin capitulation or power play?

By Brian Whitmore

Alyaksandr Lukashenka either just made a bold and brazen power play vis-a-vis Russia or he began laying the groundwork for Moscow's ultimate takeover of Belarus. Whatever the truth is, the stakes are enormous.

Belarus Crisis Management

BelarusAlert

Apr 21, 2021

Bizarre Belarus “coup plot” has all the hallmarks of a classic Kremlin drama

By Brian Whitmore

Belarus ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka's recent claim that he was the target of a US-backed coup may be more than just the latest in a series of conspiratorial rants by the increasingly beleaguered dictator.

Belarus Democratic Transitions

BelarusAlert

Apr 14, 2021

Belarus is the new front in Putin’s war against Ukraine

By Brian Whitmore

Fears are growing that the rapidly expanding Russian military presence in Belarus will help transform the country into a new front in the Kremlin's war against Ukraine.

Belarus Conflict

UkraineAlert

Apr 7, 2021

Ukraine rules out a return to Minsk peace talks as Putin tightens his grip on Belarus

By Vladislav Davidzon

Ukraine has ruled out a return to peace talks in Minsk due to growing Russian influence over Belarus as the Kremlin capitalizes on the international isolation of Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Belarus Conflict

BelarusAlert

Apr 7, 2021

The battle for Belarus: Russified regime faces Westernizing society

By Brian Whitmore

As the Russification of the Belarusian state unfolds, a very different dynamic is developing in Belarusian civil society: ordinary Belarusians are distancing themselves from Russia and embracing the West.

Belarus Civil Society

BelarusAlert

Mar 31, 2021

Soft annexation: Inside the Russian takeover of Belarus

By Brian Whitmore

Russia is slowly but steadily achieving the "soft annexation" of Belarus via a series of political, economic, and military measures that will assure the Kremlin of dominance over its small western neighbor.

Belarus Politics & Diplomacy

BelarusAlert

Mar 24, 2021

Moscow’s man in Minsk

By Brian Whitmore

As Belarus braced for a fresh round of anti-regime protests, the Kremlin has been busy laying the groundwork to tighten its grip on Russia's far smaller but strategically important western neighbor.

Belarus Democratic Transitions
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Experts

Staff

Nika Aleksejeva

Resident Fellow, Baltics

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Belarus Disinformation

Fellow

Michael Carpenter

Distinguished Fellow

Eurasia Center Europe Center

Eastern Europe National Security
Melinda Haring

Fellow

Melinda Haring

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center

Ukraine Civil Society

Staff

John E. Herbst

Senior Director

Eurasia Center

Ukraine Politics & Diplomacy

Staff

Daniel Hojnacki

Assistant Editor

Belarus Central Asia

Fellow

Adrian Karatnycky

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center

Ukraine Democratic Transitions
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