Human Rights Situation in Belarus in 2019

During 2019, foreign factors continued to have a significant impact on the human rights situation in Belarus. The political situation was also affected by the launch of the process of “advanced integration”, steps to implement the 1999 high-level agreements between Belarus and Russia, which provided for the creation of the “union state”. Among other things, the agreements provided for the establishment of supranational bodies, the introduction of the single currency with a single emission center, the unification of economic legislation, customs, etc. In practice, however, the Russian government associated the execution of these agreements with continued economic aid to Belarus, as well as preferential gas and oil prices. The government of Belarus and personally Aliaksandr Lukashenka assured the public that integration issues only affected economic aspects. However, according to representatives of the political opposition and independent civil society, both recent developments and the government’s involvement in the discussion of the “advanced integration” agenda constitute a potential and real threat to the sovereignty of the country. In this regard, in December 2019, the opposition organized a series of peaceful protests in support of Belarus’s independence and against the signing of integration agreements with Russia. (fragment)