Eastern neighbours

Heinrich Böll Foundation and European Council of Foreign Relations have the pleasure to invite you for the public debate with Maria Lipman, Jadwiga Rogoża, and Jens Siegert. The event on the 15th of January will provide an opportunity to discuss the most recent developments in Russia and how they translate into foreign policy with experts offering first-hand knowledge about the country.

The whole Europe experiences outcomes of the events in Ukraine and Russia, in particular economic sanctions, while threats to national security has again become a hot topic in many countries of the region.  The 10th PAUCI Eastern Policy Forum "Transatlantic Community versus Eurasia – Arising Challenges and New Opportunities", that took place on the 15th of December, was be an opportunity for a discussion between Eastern and Western partners – the representatives of politics, think tanks, academia and non-governmental organizations.

Belarus is given media coverage only at the time of presidential election and is generally not present in the international public discourse on other occasions. Hence, it is worth examining what has been happening in Belarus during the last six months, especially in the context of the 20th anniversary of Lukashenko's presidency. How has Belarus reacted to the events in Ukraine? How has the president used the conflict for his internal political games? Can we expect any liberalisation?

We should not forget what exactly provoked the mass protests that eventually led to the fall of the old regime in Kiev: it was the then President Yanukovych’s sudden decision not to sign the Association Agreement with the EU. Ten years after the ‘Orange revolution’, the dramatic change of events in February 2014 have given Ukraine and Europe a second chance.

The German public's empathy or antipathy for the Ukrainian revolt against the Yanukovych regime is blanketed by a deeper difference: the view of Russia. As in earlier periods of German history, Germany’s relationship with the West is reflected in Russian politics.

We would all love to have a democratic Russia as a partner in the European Union. However, the country’s current political leadership is moving away from Europe.

Various crisis and occasional scandals among the leaderships of political parties erupting inside the Belarusian opposition, force numerous analysts and observers to talk about a generational conflict within the opposition. Has such a conflict really appeared and is a generational change necessary in the Belarusian democratic movement?

How does a society with a lengthy period of socialist experience in its recent past think of the oppression of women? Would it recognize the issue at all? How would it see the origin of this oppression? Finally, what needs to be done for the world to become a better place? The way these issues have been theorized in the former socialist region was quite different from how they were seen in the West.

Belarus is able to meet only 13-15 percent of its energy needs from its own reserves and   its basic basic fuel is natural gas imported from Russia, which constitutes from 75 to 80 percent of energy consumption. Of course, not only Belarus is dependent on Russian energy supplies, since the Baltic States and several Central European countries are in a similar situation. However, Belarus is most vulnerable, because Russia is virtually the sole supplier of its energy.

The society of Belarus was under the influence of the Soviet regime for 70 years, the consequences of which can be seen to this date – in political and social culture, in how institutions and social structures are organized, and in the way governance is exercised and power is enforced. Without awareness of this heritage it is impossible to understand how local communities function or how citizens participate in the decision-making process.