In the run-up to a difficult election for President Alexander Lukashenka, the three main opposition candidates have been excluded from the vote and there have been mass arrests. Western countries should try to deter further repression in Belarus without isolating the country.
The Belarusian presidential election campaign features at least three candidates the government cannot control or ignore – all of whom have the potential to reach a broad audience.
The coronavirus has hit Ukraine hard, but the IMF has promised the country less funding than seemed likely only months ago. Self-interested oligarchs are delaying necessary new reforms and pushing back against those Ukraine has already made.
Eastern Europe has so far not seen an outbreak of the coronavirus as severe as that in the west of the continent. But the situation…
Will Ukraine's young new leaders begin to reckon with their deep state?
Grand projects funded by Russia can do little to cover up the lopsided and inadequate economy and infrastructure that Crimeans are now living with
Crimean Tatars face increasing repression by Russian authorities, but divisions on cooperation with Moscow or Kiev, as well as internal leadership disputes, have hindered a unified response. Europe must advocate for Crimean Tatars' rights despite these challenges.
On 7 January, Ukrainians celebrated a double-holiday: Orthodox Christmas and the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox church
The Ukrainian church pushes for independence from Moscow. The split will undermine Putin’s vision of a ‘Russian world’ and accelerate Ukraine’s cultural separation from Russia
New Russian naval activities around Crimea could presage a new, maritime front in the war in eastern Ukraine