Five and a half years after the 2010 presidential elections, which culminated in street protests, violence, police crackdowns and Western sanctions on Belarus, the intensity of both official and unofficial contacts between Minsk and the West are at an all-time high. One telling recent example has been the May 5 international conference “Understanding Belarus Security,” held in Minsk, and the subsequent meeting between the participants from the United States and Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei (Belta.by, May 5; Mfa.gov.by, May 6).
The most widespread explanation for this change in Belarusian-Western relations has to do with the conflict in Ukraine, which allegedly …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation