Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu recently invoked the NATO boogeyman as justification for closer military integration with Belarus. And that may be a sign that Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s gambit to go all in on Moscow’s conflict with the West has convinced the Kremlin to keep him around. Continue reading
Elements of a new Iron Curtain continue to appear along Belarus’s border with the European Union. Continue reading
With the focus of the United States largely on a rising and increasingly bellicose China — and with Russia being dismissed by many as a declining regional power — fears are mounting that the European front is not getting the attention it demands. Continue reading
On the sidelines of February 2015 Minsk peace talks seeking to establish a ceasefire in Ukraine’s Donbas region, a live microphone picked up a conversation between Belarus dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka and the then Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko. Continue reading
According to a growing number of pro-Kremlin commentators, the spectre haunting Belarus is the threat of “Belarusization,” meaning the promotion of the Belarusian language, history, and culture. Continue reading
Alyaksandr Lukashenka said the quiet part out loud. Speaking to reporters earlier this month, the autocratic Belarusian leader declared that his country and Russia had effectively formed “a single army” and appeared to confirm that it was targeting the West. Continue reading
Alyaksandr Lukashenka chose a telling location last week to announce that Belarus would soon receive an enormous military hardware consignment from Russia. Continue reading
Russia’s support, of course, always comes with strings attached. And in this case, the price appears to be turning Belarus into an effective extension of Russia’s Western Military District. Continue reading
All is not quiet on the Ukrainian front. Continue reading
Europe’s last two dictators again performed their perennial theater of solidarity this week when Alyaksandr Lukashenka travelled to St. Petersburg to meet Vladimir Putin. Continue reading
