cafebabel.com

Ladies what oppose Belarus in Vilnius

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:50:35 -0000

Belarus is just 40 kilometres away from the Lithuanian capital. Belarusian human rights campaigners use Vilnius as an asylum and distribution centre - yet the Lithuanian president keeps up a good relationship with the Belarusian despot

Belarus schools: language of peasants or programmers?

('Annie Rutherford',) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:26:22 -0000

According to its constitution Belarus has two state languages - Belarusian and Russian. Authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly emphasised the equality of both, but nationalist Belarusians view the state policy as 'russification'. The argument is being played out in the schools

Ukraine, Belarus, Egypt...free the online activist in you

('Ilona Nuk\xc5\xa1evica',) — Wed, 11 May 2011 15:03:17 -0000

Ukraine’s ‘Day of Wrath’ against its president on 14 May has been organised online. Belarus’ internet is the only escape from regime propaganda. The Arab world reported its transitions online. Amidst these examples, Peter Ludlow, cyber rights activist and philosophy professor at Northwestern University in Illinois, emphasies that politics can be influenced in bottom-up solutions. Interview

Ludicrousness from Lukaschenko Land: 1994, 2001, 2006, 2010

('Annie Rutherford',) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 13:00:39 -0000

It is a dictatorship and it is our dictatorship: in Europe, right next door to the EU. On 19th December it’s that time again: Belarusian citizens will be called upon to elect their president. In the lead up to this date one Frenchwoman in Berlin discusses the ludicrousness from Lukashenko land on cafébabel.com. Claudine Delacroix’ fifth post considers 'modest election forecasts and idiots in the opposition'

December Belarus elections: protests as absurd as the president

('Annie Rutherford',) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:52:45 -0000

In a bimonthly series, one Frenchwoman in Berlin discusses the latest ludicrousness from Lukashenko land. Post three: the absurd forms of Belarusian protests

Alice in Belarus (Wonderland): politician tries to enter local elections

('Peter Robbins',) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 12:50:27 -0000

This is the story of Olga Karatch, a Belarusian dissident and 'Nash Dom' human rights activist, and her participation in local elections in Belarus. Those were in May 2010, but Olga’s testimony has lost none of its relevance. Unfortunately, it's all too synonymous with the state of Belarusian politics as a whole, and with elections looming on 19 December

Belarus elections: facebook birthday boy?

('jGRAN',) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 12:27:53 -0000

On 19 December the Belarusians will be electing their new president. In a bimonthly series, one Frenchwoman in Berlin discusses the latest ludicrousness from Lukashenko land. Post one: how autocrats change their birthdays

Visit to the EHU: Belarusian elite university exiled in Vilnius

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:00:19 -0000

The decision was taken: the European humanities university, created in Minsk, Belarus in 1992, packed up to join Vilnius (and democracy) in 2004. In this oasis of free education, Belarusian youth have been exiled further and further to the west

Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova: ‘Russian murders shocking, but hardly a surprise’

('Iryna V',) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:44:50 -0000

As we mourn our lost Russian colleagues, Belarusians do not forget our own Baburovas, Politkovskayas and Klebnikovs. We remember why they perished. Expresso

Choose a language - Belarusian or Russian

('Sarah Meleleu',) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0000

In Belarus opinions do not only differ on the domineering president Lukaschenko, who has announced a general election for 28 September

Iryna Vidanava: ‘Belarusians abroad can protest via the internet’

('Sarah Gray',) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:00:00 -0000

The thirty-year-old journalist from Minsk saw her magazine closed down by the regime. We talk press freedom, the political engagement of young Belarusians and elections on 28 September

Minsk: the tidy road to regime perfection

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Neat, elegant, so clean that you want to go barefoot – that is how the Lukashenko regime likes to present the capital of Belarus - the one visible to tourists, that is

The eastern punk Svieta Songako

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Art is politics. The fourth and last chapter of our portraits of artists who are attempting to resist the ‘cultural Chernobyl’ in a Belarus that is in Alexander Lukashenko’s stranglehold

Political choreographers: Alexandre and Natalia Furman

('Andrew Burgess',) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 12:55:00 -0000

Art is politics: the third part of our series on portraits of artists attempting to resist the 'cultural Chernobyl’, which reigns in Belarus, a country asphyxiated by the authoritarian regime of president Alexander Lukashenko

Men creating men in Belarus

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Art is politics - the second part in our series of profiles of artists trying to resist a ‘cultural Chernobyl’ in a Belarus stifled by president Aleksander Loukachenko

Belarus rocks

('Andrew Burgess',) — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Art is politics: the first part of our series on portraits of artists who attempt to resist the 'cultural Chernobyl' which reigns in Belarus, a country asphyxiated by the authoritarian regime of president Alexander Lukashenko

Free Theatre of Minsk: onstage resistance

Tue, 22 May 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The Belarusian independent theatre company uses black humour and underground performances to protest against 'Europe's last dictatorship'

Yuri Khashchevatsky: 'Being Belarusian is fashionable these days'

Fri, 18 May 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Visionary film director Yuri Khashchevatsky, 60, is a principal figure of Belarusian dissent. He criticises ineffective opposition, and talks up the new role the Internet plays in the resistance

Alexander Milinkievich: 'voting in Belarus oft means ending up jobless'

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0000

The leader of the group of opposition parties in Belarus and Sakharov Prize winner on the need for close collaboration between his country and the EU

Olga Karatch: 'Lukashenko takes EU leaders for great lumps'

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 18:05:00 -0000

The German presidency of the EU judged the local elections on January 14 in Belarus ‘undemocratic’. The country’s opposition has already announced its intention of contesting Lukashenko

Crisis of the opposition in Belarus

Mon, 01 May 2006 14:00:00 -0000

On 27 April, Alexander Milinkevich, leader of the Belarussian opposition, was arrested. This does not bode well for the future of Belarus. For the opposition, finding international support has become a vital task

Belarus and their rigged election

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 12:00:00 -0000

'Neither free, nor fair'. For the observers sent to the Belarus elections by the organisation for security and cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on 19 March, Alexander Lukashenko's victory is as comfortable as it is suspicious

Belarusian geopolitics – why should Europe care?

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 14:00:00 -0000

Belarus is still the Kremlin’s puppet. But how long can this relationship between Putin and Lukashenko last?

Lukashenko, the people’s president

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 02:00:00 -0000

Alexander Lukashenko is a man with a passion for sport and farming has been described as both the last dictator in Europe and a man of the people. So which is true?

Milinkevich: “I believe in a European Belarus”

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 02:00:00 -0000

Alexander Milinkevich, the leader of the main opposition coalition in the forthcoming elections, explains his ideas for a democratic Belarusian future.

Belarus, Europe’s last dictatorship

Fri, 09 Sep 2005 12:00:00 -0000

In this open letter, Václav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic, and other important public figures bring attention to the situation in Belarus, where Alexander Lukashenka rules with an iron fist.

A domino effect in Belarus? Brussels must play its role

Fri, 17 Dec 2004 12:10:00 -0000

After, Kiev, might Minsk be next? The Belarusian opposition are hoping so. But this time the European Union cannot just emerge from the shadows at the last moment. Here’s why.