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The governmental problem in Ukraine ‘has been more or less solved’ after the recent presidential and parliamentary elections, Lukashenka claimed. It is essential that the situation in Ukraine is stabilized and the Belarusian President is expecting Brussels to render assistance. “I am asking you to pass this signal to the European Union no matter how difficult it may be for you now when you are leaving for another country (Viktorin will represent the EU interests in Armenia): Ukraine needs support,” Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s press service quotes the President. Kiev is oriented on Brussels more than on Moscow or Minsk. That is why the European Union that said “A”, should also say “B” and support the Ukrainian people now.

And a 39-year-old former collective farm director with a deep, nasal voice and a knack for populist pronouncements won the first — and so far only — democratic presidential election in Belarus. Alyaksandr Lukashenka was sworn in on July 20, 1994, beginning the first of five presidential terms — and counting. Europe and the world have undergone startling transformations over the last quarter-century but the presence of Lukashenka has been a constant. Or has it? The wily leader of this resource-poor nation of 10 million bordering Russia, Ukraine, and three European Union and NATO countries has proven endlessly flexible in his constancy, turning his country into a textbook example of adaptive authoritarianism. To the surprise of most observers, the political neophyte Lukashenka proved from the beginning to be an adroit politician with formidable instincts. At a turbulent time he tapped a vein of conservatism in Belarus, whose citizens overwhelmingly voted against the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1991 referendum and have often sought stability but had to settle for stagnation. He moved quickly to lay the foundations of the authoritarian system that has become entrenched under his rule by holding a constitutional referendum in 1996 that extended his term to 2001, gave his decrees the force of law, and gave him virtually complete control over the state budget. With these powers, he quickly established personal control over all key institutions — the judiciary, election commissions, unions, law enforcement and security agencies, all major media, and so on.

«Today there are no obstacles to closer dialogue not only on economic but also political matters. Belarus is ready for this. Let us move forward in this direction, without waiting for any kind of event: be it parliamentary or presidential elections. I think our relations are more important than any political campaigns in Belarus or in your countries,” Lukashenka said. The head of state highlighted Andrea Wiktorin's great contribution to the development of relations between Belarus and the European Union. He also expressed gratitude for the financial support that the EU provides to the projects in Belarus, including those to develop infrastructure. Andrea Wiktorin, on her part, said that over the past few years Belarus and the European Union have been able to build a relationship of trust. “We engage in an open dialogue on political themes, economic issues and also on specific, individual matters such as trade, customs, and so on,” she said. Andrea Wiktorin, the current head of the EU Delegation to Belarus, has been nominated as head of the EU Delegation to Armenia. The designated new Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Belarus is German diplomat Dirk Schuebel who currently heads the EEAS Russia Division.

Lukashenko likely thought hosting the games would be an opportunity to rally Belarusians around his leadership. Instead, his country is feeling increasingly anxious amid mounting tensions with Russia. Russian president Vladimir Putin's attendance for the closing ceremony on June 30 didn't calm the situation. Ever since winning the presidential election in 1994, Lukashenko has ruled the country with an iron fist, obsessed with staying in power. He disappeared several opponents and critics in the late 1990s. In 2006, he resorted to fraud to secure victory in the presidential election and cracked down violently against his opponents. The United States and European Union in turn slapped sanctions on him and his regime. After Lukashenko released all the political prisoners in 2008, the West eased sanctions; they reimposed sanctions after another bad election and crackdown in 2010. They lifted them almost entirely after the 2015 elections, which did not see a repeat of the crackdown in previous elections; this easing of sanctions also came against the backdrop of Putin's illegal annexation of Crimea and invasion of Ukraine. Before Putin, the doddering Boris Yeltsin was Lukashenko's Russian counterpart, and Lukashenko was convinced he could outmanoeuvre Yeltsin. Lukashenko thought a union treaty between Minsk and Moscow signed in December 1999 would be the path for him to run the two countries together. Lukashenko's plans were scuttled, however, when Putin replaced Yeltsin as Russian president. In Putin, Lukashenko found himself with a new Russian leader who had no intention of serving as second fiddle. Putin steadily pursued a more assertive policy toward Russia's neighbours, including invasions of Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014. Pressure on Belarus grew as well, as Putin reduced oil subsidies and other financial support to Belarus. He convinced Lukashenko to join various regional entities — the Collective Security Treaty Organization and Eurasian Economic Union – as part of an effort to establish a Russian sphere of influence. Putin also wants to set up a military base in Belarus, which would take to another level the increasing integration of Belarusian and Russian military and security forces. The recent report of the International Strategic Action Network for Security clearly demonstrates Putin's «creeping assault on the sovereignty of Belarus.» More recently, the Russia-Belarus union, dating back to 1999, is back in fashion, because formalising suc...

In simple terms, they are checking whether the apples that soon might be labelled ‘made in Belarus’ do grow in the country. In April, Rosselkhoznadzor, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision, imposed temporary restrictions on the imports of apples and pears from Belarus claiming that it makes deliveries of sanctioned food of EU origin to Russia. Rosselkhoznadzor stressed the agency did not receive reliable information about the volume of imports and the volume of goods that passed through the procedure of customs clearance in our country. This leads to falsification of the goods’ true country of origin, the Russian side added. Over the past two days, Rosselkhoznadzor experts have made a number of visits to Belarusian gardens. According to the watchdog, they are estimating the production capacity of farms in Brest, Vitsebsk and Hrodna. They came to Belarus at the invitation of Alyaksandr Piskun, Director of the Main State Inspectorate on Seed-growing, Quarantine and Plant Protection. In May, Rosselkhoznadzor said they had no intention to lift the ban. In late June, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a decree extending ‘specific economic measures against countries that imposed sanctions against Russia until December 31, 2020. Since August 2015, Russia has destroyed about thousands of tons of food from countries that were put under the Russian food embargo. Most of these products made it into Russia through Belarus. Belarusian companies gained notoriety for purchasing food products ‘made in the EU’, ‘editing’ some inscription on their packages and then delivering them to Russia which took retaliation measures against the bloc for its sanctions list and support of Ukraine.

In Belarus, criminals are executed for the most heinous and brutal crimes. Since 2007, there were less than five death sentences per year. However, the very existence of capital punishment distinguishes Belarus not only from the rest of Europe but also from other post-USSR countries. The European Union and the Council of Europe don’t neglect a single death sentence in Belarus, usually reacting with the statements of condemnation. For many European capitals, the death penalty is a dark stain on Belarus’s reputation that seriously hinders the development of mutual relations. The death penalty doesn’t prevent the EU from building relations with other countries, such as China, Japan, or the bastion of democracy – the United States. When the argument is brought up in a conversation with Western diplomats, one always hears the same mantra: “this is Europe, and there is no place for the death penalty.” The EU insists on the moratorium not only because of some European values but also because this concession is politically convenient, it is very easy to record. It’s not clear how to measure freedom of speech or assembly, while the death penalty – either you have one or you don’t. For the EU, this is an understandable criterion of progress. Most often, the government refers to public opinion, particularly to the referendum of 1996, where the majority voters voted in favor of retaining the death penalty. Truth be told, independent polls also show that Belarusians don’t support the abolition of capital punishment. But since when this was a problem for the authorities? What’s stopping the government then? There can be two explanations: either Lukashenko is really a staunch supporter of capital punishment or he doesn’t want to sell this concession cheaply. Some officials familiar with the subject admit that attempts to lobby for a moratorium on the death penalty within the system always rested on the unequivocal refusal of the president. The second reason – the lack of a counteroffer from the EU – looks more realistic. For moral reasons, the EU cannot simply offer Minsk a bag of money for stopping the executions. In general, in Brussels, there are neither the means to work with Belarus nor the enthusiasm to buy any concessions. On the upside, since the moratorium on the death penalty is a one-time favor, Minsk doesn’t want to give a trump card for nothing. Therefore, there are only two ways out. Either the EU should radically reconsider its relations with Belarus a...

For the citizens of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, the fee will not change. They will continue to pay 35 euros for the visa — this amount is specified in the agreements of these countries with the EU to simplify the issuance of visas. The corresponding regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June has been published by the Official Journal of the European Union today.

For over 800 years now, the beautiful Riga has been living on the shores of the Baltic Sea. Being at the crossroads of trade routes, the city absorbed the culture and traditions of many nations and today, Riga, perhaps, is the international capital in the European Union.