CGM hosted a panel discussion featuring four eminent young voices from Belarus that analyzing the protests unfolding in that country. Situated between the EU and Russia, Belarus is a former Soviet republic led for the past 26 years by President Alexander Lukashenka. Lukashenka declared himself winner of the recent presidential election on August 9, despite widespread claims of vote rigging. Belarusians then took to the streets, starting the largest protest movement in the country’s young history that has no sign of stopping. What is unfolding in Belarus? What are the economic and geopolitical impacts of this protest movement? What role is civil society and digital media playing in these events? Speakers
- Andrei Kazakevich, Director of the Institute of Political Studies, Political Sphere, Belarus
- Kateryna Bornukova, Academic Director of BEROC Economic Research Center, Belarus
- Ryhor Niznikau, Senior Research Fellow, EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood and Russia, Finnish Institute of International Affairs
- Tatsiana Chulitskaya, Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy, Researcher, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
The conversation was moderated by CGM Director Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili.