Blast at Concert in Minsk About 50 people were wounded by a home-made bomb in Minsk on Friday, July 3 at an Independence Day concert attended by President Aliaxandr Lukashenka. The injured were mainly young people, although they included at least two small children aged five and six. Presidential spokesman Pavel Legki told Reuters Lukashenka "reached the site of the explosion within several minutes". The second, unexploded bomb had been... Болей »

How to Lower Schengen Visa Fees for Belarusians By Dzianis Melyantsou and Vitali Silitski (abstracts) Despite the fact that an increase in visa fees was caused by objective reasons (the accession of the new EU member states to the Schengen Zone, the introduction of a common electronic data base and a more complicated visa-issue procedure), this provoked a negative reaction from both official Minsk and the Belarusian civil society, a rar... Болей »

Belarusian Issue at NATO PA Session in Berlin On May 24-27, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly held its spring session. This year, parliamentarians from the NATO member states and associate members, partner countries, representatives of interparliamentary assemblies and observers gathered in the German capital Berlin. Many topics were discussed during the meetings of the Assembly’s five committees and at the plenary session, including the ... Болей »

Information Evening on Chernobyl in the United World College of the Adriatic On May 4, on the initiative of the Office for a Democratic Belarus (Brussels), the united World College of the Adriatic (Triest, Italy) organized an information evening dedicated to the 22nd anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe. The presentation was held in the framework of extra curriculum student activities called Focus. The United World Colleges is a uni... Болей »

Debates in the EP on Costs of Schengen Visas for Belarusians and Ukrainians On April 21, at the beginning of the European Parliament’s session in Strasbourg (France), the vice-president of the European Commission, Mr Jacques Barrot, presented a statement on cost of a Schengen visa for citizens of Ukraine and Belarus. His intervention was followed by a debate. On Belarus, the Commissioner said that the current regulations will not be rev... Болей »

Belarus—the Struggle for Freedom of Expression In cooperation with the Office for a Democratic Belarus, the Hamburg Foundation for Politically Persecuted (Hamburger Stiftung für politisch Verfolgte) and the Hanse-office in Brussels organized an evening discussion on the difficult media situation and problems with freedom of expression in Belarus. The event, scheduled on the next day after a large-scale demonstration in Minsk that was br... Болей »

Belarus Says Last “Good-Bye” to Iryna Kazulina In September 2007, Iryna Kazulina was one of the organizers of an international conference on breast cancer. She wrote a book about her struggle with the disease but did not manage to complete it. “The fact of illness is not a reason for selfisolation, to speak of accepting any sacrifice from my relatives,” she said. “I believe that life should go on and the illness is not a good reason to ... Болей »

The Office for a Democratic Belarus expresses its support for the campaign initiated in the European Parliament and aimed at reducing the costs of Schengen visas for the Belarusian citizens. Belarus remains the only country of the EU Eastern neighbourhood whose citizens have to pay €60 for a single-entry Schengen visa, which amounts to almost one third of the average monthly salary in the country. Lowering costs of the visa and easing t... Болей »

PACE: Pourgourides Line vs. Rigoni Line towards Belarus Active discussions on Belarus at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) stopped in 2004, following release of the well-known Pourgourides Report and, consequently, adoption of the Resolution on Disappeared Persons, as well as the Resolution on Persecution of the Press in the Republic of Belarus. In the course of 2004-2005, PACE continuously made statements conde... Болей »

Schengen Zone Expansion: Consequences for Belarus By Dzyanis Melyantsou for the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies Europe's Schengen arrangement, which allows people to cross borders without having their passports checked, expanded on December 21, 2007 to nine new members of the European Union – the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Three of these countries share borders w... Болей »