Belarus

A Belarusian politician, fraudster and businessman kept money in Credit Suisse

It was the last summer day of 2008. An Audi was waiting in line to leave Belarus for Poland. Petr Kalugin, a House of Representatives deputy,...

Lukashenko’s sanctioned ally continues to do business in the EU

In 2020, businessman Alexander Shakutin came under EU sanctions for supporting Belarus' dictator Alexander Lukashenko.The activities of his companies in the EU were supposed...

How a secret Lithuanian partner helped a Belarusian oligarch make billions

Chyzh and Tomaszevski earned more than $5 billion in Belarus from the manipulation of customs codes for petroleum products by marking them as “solvents”. 

A message to the Russian people

I begin to write to you in the quiet moments of the night, having been once again awakened by the wailing sirens that warn...

Russia is slowly annexing Belarus

As the international community anxiously observes the situation near the Russo-Ukrainian border, another development has been afoot. Russia and Belarus are slowly morphing into...

What if gas stops flowing through Ukraine?

Russia continues to keep more than 100,000 troops on its long border with Ukraine and carry out military exercises in Belarus. The US has,...

Only the West can save Georgia

“We need you back, Tim,” said nobody. “Coverage of what's happening in Georgia just isn't enough. Goddamit man, it's only Ani Chkhikvadze out there...

Is Lukashenko setting a new trap for Europe?

One can hardly imagine the misery of the refugees at the border between Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. Thousands of people from Iraq, Syria and...

Border pains: A set play by Belarus

Desperate migrants sandwiched between the Belarussian-Polish border is a nasty quagmire. It is also an impressively manufactured crisis. With threats to both EU and...

Lukashenko would not dare cut gas supplies to EU without Kremlin’s permission

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko threatened to cut gas supplies to Europe transiting his country if the European Union imposed further sanctions in response...

Crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border

Using human lives to blackmail the governments of rival nations is as old as human civilization. In recent years, however, countries such as Turkey,...

Uzbekistan re-elects President Mirziyoyev to second term

Uzbekistan held presidential elections on October 24, in a peaceful and secure atmosphere, with incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoyev handily taking first place with 80.1%...

On 9/11, it’s time for a reckoning and reflection of decades of failed US national security policy

A reckoning with America’s failed national security policy is long overdue.Our calamitous misadventures in the Middle East and the global financial collapse of 2008...

Will Putin take over Belarus in September?

After the popular unrest against the rigged elections in Belarus in August 2020, the number of refugees, including political asylum seekers, increased significantly. Belarusians...

The EU is nothing but a feckless spectator in the unfolding Afghan crisis

The surprising speed by which the Taliban seized control, with relative ease, of the whole of Afghanistan is a major geopolitical debacle for the...

How Europe risks scoring an own goal on nuclear energy

On July 14, the European Commission took up an extensive policy initiative designed to bring the European Union’s net greenhouse gas emissions down by...

The status of Crimea is far more complicated than the Western media admits

“If there were a moral to be drawn from the Crimean War which might apply to the present it would be this: in a...

Russia’s Covid rate drops as Central Asia faces new pandemic challenges

The worst of the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic appears to be over, especially in Moscow, where new infections and hospitalizations are well below...

The COVID-19 situation across Eurasia is getting worse

The COVID infection rate in Moscow is still growing and is also starting to rise in St Petersburg as well as in the Moscow...

CIS Heads of Diplomatic Missions issue statement on 80th anniversary of ‘Great Patriotic War’ outbreak

The Brussels-based heads of Diplomatic Missions from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan issued a statement on June 22 to...

Did Biden draw a line in the sand with or legitimize Putin in Geneva?

When President Joe Biden arrived at the historic Villa la Garange in Geneva for a much-anticipated meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, he triumphantly...

No more lip service: The EU must be more resolute vis-à-vis Russia

The first meeting between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin showed that the US is no longer letting Moscow lead it around by the nose...

Sanctions have to hurt

Can the EU topple Alexander Lukashenko, the dictator of Belarus, with new sanctions? Probably not, but after the forced landing of Ryanair Flight 4978,...

A fiscal pandemic on the EU’s eastern border may eventually strike at the heart of Europe

The economic crisis in the European Union that was caused by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has slowly started to subside after months...

No discounts on the EU’s fundamental values

Alexander Schallenberg has been Austria's Federal Minister for European and International Affairs in the second Sebastian Kurz government since January 2020. He previously served...

Tougher sanctions against Belarus

It was a clear act of state-sponsored terrorism. An Irish passenger plane from the Irish budget airline Ryan Air, while on its way from...

Belarus’ skyjacking of Ryanair flight to arrest dissident journalist rattles EU

ATHENS – An incident in which a Belarusian warplane intercepted a flight between EU-members Greece and Lithuania and forced it down in Minsk on...

Chernobyl and the hope for a safer and more sustainable future

The accident that took place 35 years ago on April 26, 1986, at the Chernobyl nuclear power station remains one of the worst man-made...

How real is the Russian threat to the Baltic States?

During the events that unfolded in Georgia in 2008 and later in Ukraine in 2014, Russia has demonstrated great resolve in attaining geopolitical leverage...

More of the West is needed in Georgia

Before I start describing Georgia as a regional reforms leader and a country, which is well-known for its success while on its way towards...

Belarus expels Polish diplomat over ‘cursed soldiers’ event

Belarus on Tuesday said it had expelled a Polish consul from the country, after he participated in an event dedicated to Poland’s "cursed soldiers" who...

Post-Soviet foibles lead to European nowhereness

Before I get into the thrust of today's business, I'd like to preface my argument by stating unequivocally that nobody can find former Soviet...

Female Belarusian journalists given two-year prison sentences for live coverage of pro-democracy protests

A court in Belarus on Thursday sentenced two female Belarusian journalists to two years in prison on charges of violating public order after they...

Lukashenko angers pro-democracy opposition with the creation of Soviet-style ‘All-Belarusian People’s Assembly’

Belarus' Aleksander Lukashenko's has created an "All-Belarusian People's Assembly" to discuss reforms and the country's development for the next five years, prompting an outcry...

European Parliament president under criticism for not supporting Belarus’ pro-democracy movement

A leading Member of the European Parliament is organizing a debate with the aim to invalidate the decision not to open an office in...

Latvia to host world hockey championship after Belarus stripped of tournament for human rights abuses

The 2021 men’s ice hockey world championship will be held in Latvia’s capital Riga, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) said on Tuesday.The announcement...

Out in the cold: SE Europe in dire need of vaccine supplies

With the COVID-19 pandemic steadily worsening across much of Europe, the citizens of the continent’s Southeast European region have been left out of much...

Belarus loses ice hockey championship over ‘safety and security’ concerns

Belarus has been stripped of the right to hold the World Ice-Hockey Championship this year, over "safety and security issues", the International Ice-Hockey Federation...

Tikhanovskaya asks OSCE to help her return safely to Belarus

Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has asked for the help of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for her safe return...

Tape alleges Lukashenko plot to murder opponents in Germany

The online newspaper EUObserver on Monday published what it says is a 2012 audio recording of a top Belarusian KGB officer discussing alleged plots...

EU calls on Belarus to abolish death penalty

After another death was recorded in Belarus, this time of Viktar Skrundzik, who was sentenced to death by the Minsk Regional Court, the EU...

Russia, Belarus ink pricing procedure protocol for gas supplies

Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and the government of Belarus have signed a protocol outlining the pricing procedure for natural gas supplies to Belarus in...

US offers to supply Belarus with oil and gas amid Russia tension

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said his country is ready to fully provide Belarus with energy resources at competitive prices, as its main...

France rejects suggestions that Eastern Partnership could lead to EU membership

France has rejected suggestions that the Eastern Partnership could lead to EU membership for countries included in the program. The partnership consists of the EU...

Belarus buys oil from Norway as Russia halts supplies

Belarusian state-run oil company Belneftekhim started importing oil from Norway after its main oil provider, Russia, suspended its supplies. The company announced its subsidiary...

Kazakhstan, Belarus still considering oil supply draft agreement

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan - The beginning of possible deliveries of Kazakh oil to Belarus is expected after an agreement between the two countries enters into...

Russia resumes oil supplies to Belarus after pricing dispute

Belarus has reached an agreement with Russia for limited oil supplies after Moscow stopped supplying crude two weeks ago amid stalled talks on strengthening...

EU and Belarus sign visa and readmission agreements

On Wednesday, the European Union and Belarus signed an agreement on visa facilitation and readmission, after six years of negotiations, marking an important step...

EU discusses nuclear security issues, stress tests at Ostrovets NPP

A European Commission delegation visited the Belarusian nuclear power plant in Ostrovets where they discussed security questions and stress tests of NPPs. The plant...

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