Underground, but Not Buried

European Union Customs Union and Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Joerg Forbrig, German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS), September 17, 2012

This essay was originally published by Transitions Online. It can be read here in its original form.

When Charter ’97, one of the premier independent sources of information in Belarus, opened its new office in Warsaw on 14 September, it marked yet another twist in an incredible odyssey that has had many of them.

What their home country’s autocratic ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, had in store for this committed team of human rights activists, democrats, and journalists over the last two years is nothing less than a political thriller from the darkest days of the Soviet Union. At the same time, it is a lesson in how many Belarusians, direct neighbors of the European Union, continue their struggle for a Europe whole and free and deserve all the support the democratic West can muster. Such assistance, however, remains insufficient… (more) http://ow.ly/1mus6T

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Made in Germany: Lukashenko’s Police Force

(Green) Belarus. (Grey) Europe. (Light-grey) The surrounding region.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

by: Judy Dempsey, Carnegie Europe, August 30, 2012

There is not a single European Union government that does not know the truth about Belarus. It is an unpleasant, undemocratic regime in Europe’s backyard.

Yet for reasons that say much about Europe’s policy towards Belarus, Germany’s interior ministry confirmed this week that it had provided police training, surveillance equipment, and computers to the Belarusian security forces. The deliveries took place between 2008 and 2011… (more) http://ow.ly/1mcL1U

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GPF Europe: Kazakhstan, Belarus discuss cooperation

GPF Europe: Kazakhstan, Belarus discuss cooperation – Kazakhstan and Belarus have discussed bilateral cooperation an… http://ow.ly/1lUNA4

IISS: Is Tashkent clearing the decks for the US?

Post-Soviet states in alphabetical order: 1. Armenia, 2. Azerbaijan, 3. Belarus, 4. Estonia, 5. Georgia, 6. Kazakhstan, 7. Kyrgyzstan, 8. Latvia, 9. Lithuania, 10. Moldova, 11. Russia, 12. Tajikistan, 13. Turkmenistan, 14. Ukraine, 15. Uzbekistan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Dr Nicholas Redman, Senior Fellow for Geopolitical Risk and Economic Security
Uzbekistan has once again suspended its membership of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, the alliance of former Soviet states that also includes Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Tashkent is saying it took this step because it wishes to develop relations with Afghanistan bilaterally, rather than as part of the CSTO bloc, and because it opposes efforts to deepen military cooperation within the CSTO. (more)  http://ow.ly/1loOH0

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