Society | Belarus - Expat Reporter

Lukashenko talks about political, economic results of meeting with Orban

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko held negotiations with Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban in the Palace of Independence on 5 June. It is Viktor Orban’s first state visit to Belarus

Minsk Dialogue experts: The conflict between Belarus and Russia is reaching a dangerous line

Michael Pike

Relations with Russia have not gained a “new normality” and have been deteriorating for six months now, Of the whole range of problematic issues, a compromise, however, temporary and unreliable, was found only on oil supplies in March-April this year. There has been no progress on the visa issue, integration road maps or mobile phones’s roaming in the Union State.

US Ambassador back soon: Trump names his nominee for US envoy to Belarus

Michael Pike

The Trump administration is likely to appoint a veteran diplomat as U.S. ambassador to Belarus—the first in more than a decade—amid its efforts to strengthen ties with a country long considered to be in Russia’s orbit.

The Jewish Resistance Museum in Novogrudok

History of the Kushners: why Donald Trump’s in-laws are coming to Belarus this summer

Michael Pike

The founder and curator of the Museum of Jewish Resistance in Novogrudok, Tamara Vershitskaya, met with Charles Kushner, a US billionaire and in-law of US President Donald Trump, in January in New York. Now she is talking about this meeting and how the family of the American billionaire keeps the memory of Belarus.

The Swiss embassy was opened in Minsk

Ron Mitchell

In Minsk, at Svabody Square, 11 Swiss Embassy was opened. Before that, only a representative office of this country worked in Belarus. The head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign AffairsIgnazio Cassis flew to the Belarusian capital for the opening ceremony. Together with him the embassy was opened by the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Vladimir Makei.

Europe’s Last Soviet Economy Approaches Its ‘Hour of Reckoning’

Michael Pike

Belarus kept old factories, jobs, and social services alive after communism. Now that model is under threat from Russia, Bloomberg Businessweek writes in its recent article about Belarus

The new British Ambassador to Belarus, Jacqueline Perkins

UK Ambassador in Belarus Jacqueline Perkins: “They in London work hard to deliver brexit in time”

Ron Mitchell

The new British Ambassador to Belarus, Jacqueline Perkins, tells about the prospects for the development of Belarusian-British relations, her attitude to problems of the death penalty and homophobia, as well as expectations of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Belarus.

USA Charge d'Affaires in Belarus Jennifer Moore

Head of the U.S. Embassy Jennifer Moore on U.S. visas, Kremlin influence and elections in Belarus

Ron Mitchell

Since Karen Stewart left that post in March 2008, the U.S. diplomatic mission to Belarus has been head by a Chargé d’Affaires. For a little over a year, Jenifer Moore has been working in this position, representing the U.S. government and its interests here. Now she speaks about the expected arrival of a new ambassador, the high cost of American visas, what she expects from Belarusian parliamentary elections, and what she does in addition to her work.

US, Belarus plan to restore ambassadors after 11-year freeze

Susan Holmes

The rapprochement comes as Belarus seeks to ease its isolation in the West and balance its close ties with Russia. The US and Belarus withdrew their ambassadors in 2008.

Some foreign embassies in Belarus pay only 1 USD for land. Others are not that lucky

Ron Mitchell

The Chinese and UAE embassies have allocated land for a dollar. What about Russia, the United States, Ukraine and others? As it turned out, the approaches in many cases are different.