US and EU diplomats stayed as far away as possible from Friday’s inauguration of President Lukashenko. But in Moscow, Vladimir Putin posed Thursday with his visiting counterpart from Belarus. Turning to the microphones, he announced $4 billion in energy subsidies to Belarus, plus a brand new $6 billion nuclear power plant. Is Belarus, Russia’s North […]
My Sons’ Road To Russia Passed Through A Harlem AIDS Clinic
Posted January 13th, 2011 at 11:11 am (UTC+0)
Kremlin leaders regularly say they want to increase tourism in order to diversify a Russian economy that is overly dependent on oil and gas. Tourism is labor intensive, geographically dispersed, and carries the potential to promote trade and investment. That may sound like a good plan, but Russia’s bureaucracy doesn’t always cooperate. As an accredited […]
Belarus’ Lukashenko: Term Limited by Biology?
Posted January 7th, 2011 at 8:17 am (UTC+0)
By James Brooke Next week, Belarus will be back in the spotlight as European Union officials meet to impose visa sanctions against Alexander Lukashenko and the top leaders of the government. Several EU foreign ministers have charged that Lukashenko stole the Dec. 19 presidential election. Seeing the Belarus leader as illegitimate, they want to keep […]
In the Streets of Minsk
Posted December 22nd, 2010 at 10:10 pm (UTC+0)
MINSK — Over and over again, Belarus state television broadcasts video of demonstrators smashing glass as they tried to break into the Central Election Commission Sunday night here. I was there. Those narrowly cropped shots miss the big picture. Alexander Lukashenko has run Belarus since 1994. Depending on your point of view, he is Europe’s […]
