The government in Minsk has long claimed that Belarus’s socioeconomic stability is its major achievement. Indeed, from 1996 to 2014, it experienced positive GDP growth every year, and its living standards were on the rise. However, the conflict in Ukraine ultimately converted this idea of “stability” from a propaganda cliché into a palpable reality now treasured by most Belarusians. Popular trust in President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has long been linked to the dynamics of per capita incomes, but the latter’s growth has now come to a halt. Nevertheless, the public’s readiness to vote for Lukashenka in the upcoming presidential elections, scheduled …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation