Belarus’ foreign policy
Four sacks of potatoes and a piece of lard were the Christmas gifts president Lukashenko brought for his meeting with Putin on December 29.
In December, the tensions of the past years in relations between Russia and Belarus entered a new stage growing into an open conflict. The Kremlin openly declared its ambitions of integrating Belarus. It conditioned discounts for oil and gas on deeper integration between Russia and Belarus within the Union State.
Despite recent concerns from some security analysts that a new Military Doctrine of the Union State of Russia and Belarus will include provisions for the establishment of a Russian military base on Belarusian soil...
Parliamentary and presidential election campaigns are about to start in Belarus, so the authorities continue to “tighten the screws” in the domestic political field and bank on new appointments to the key positions.
Four key scenarios for the further development of bilateral relations
The entire country is gradually focusing on the upcoming presidential election. The entire government and bureaucracy, the 2019 budget, and even international relations are all being used to polish up Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s image.
Numerous trade, financial and information conflicts between longtime allies Belarus and Russia came to what seems to be a very smooth resolution at bilateral summit on 12 October 2018
Within the given period the relations between Belarus and Russia have become a source of mostly negative news.
Visitors to Minsk National Airport, the main air-hub in Belarus, might be surprised to hear public announcements in Chinese echoing through the arrivals hall.
The trade wars with Russia and the Moscow’s desire to limit the use of the European raw materials which are “under sanctions” can cost Belarus not only profits but also the trust of the Western partners.
Russian actions toward Belarus since 2015 show that Moscow is no longer pursuing the “union deal” it had established with Minsk earlier and instead has placed its bets on the forced integration of its western neighbor into a Russian-dominated state, according to Arseny Sivitsky
Belarus authorities began preparations for the presidential and parliamentary elections and tried to ease the protest mood with the financial methods. In foreign policy, the trend of balancing between Russian, European, and Chinese directions is still preserved.
The Republic of Belarus has been a full-fledged member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) since 30 January 1992
Arseny Sivitski, Director of Center for Strategic and Foreign Policy Studies contributed to the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index 2018 “Democracy under Pressure: Polarization and Repression Are Increasing Worldwide”.
Today European security in general and conventional arms control more specifically remain topics for specialists
Despite the President Lukashenko’s absence at the Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels, Belarus set an ambitious goal of signing a fundamental agreement with the EU already in the nearest future
When a soldier died on one of its military bases, this situation again drew attention to the contradictions among the security forces of Belarus.
On 27 October 2017, Russia’s Attorney General, Yuri Chaika, met his Belarusian counterpart, Vladimir Konyuk, to discuss joint measures to tackle drug trafficking in the two countries
While the joint Russian-Belarussian military exercises Zapad 2017 ended on Sept. 20, Russia’s desire to keep the pressure on former Soviet republics continues
Some positive dynamics in the Belarusian economy allowed its authorities to flirt with the country’s population and get more points preparing for the future elections. Meanwhile in its foreign policy, despite Belarus demonstrating its ally obligations for the coming military drills, it is still under the Kremlin’s pressure
Last Monday, April 3, Lukashenko and Putin met in Saint Petersburg to overcome their controversies. After the meeting they announced that all problems and conflicts will be solved within the next weeks
The Belarus—Russia relations since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis developed in a negative dynamics
On
2016 was marked for Belarus with the mild liberalization of its domestic policy in favour of enhancing dialogue with the West. The country is preparing to abandon the socio-economic model of economy and tries to remain neutral balancing in the foreign policy.
Diplomacy between Belarus and Georgia has taken on new life. On 20 December 2016 Belarus finally opened its embassy in Tbilisi.
Relations between Belarus and the European Union are still in crisis.
The NATO-Russia confrontation as one of New Cold War’s manifestations has direct implications for the independence, sovereignty and national security of Belarus
Study by Yury Tsarik, GR-Director of Center for Strategic and Foreign Policy Studies in Belarus, Minsk
Arseny Sivitsky, Director of the Center for Strategic and Foreign Policy Studies, took part as an independent observer from Belarus in the 27th NATO Summit in Warsaw, Poland on July 7 – 9, 2016.
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