As an OSCE member state, Belarus's international commitments are subject to monitoring under the mandate of the U.S. Helsinki Commission. Belarus After Communism: Where to Now? - Illinois Wesleyan University Main Geographic Characteristics of the Republic of Belarus", "Belarus: Window of Opportunity (see Table 15, page 66)", "An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm", "The United Nations and Chernobyl The Republic of Belarus", "Ecological reservation in Belarus fosters new approaches to soil remediation", "Country Report: Belarus Borders: Borders and policy in Belarus", "SectionIV:The President, Parliament, Government, the Courts", "Deputy Prime Ministers of the Republic of Belarus", "Interview with Belarus President Lukashenko", "Analysis | Can people power topple Europe's 'last dictator'? . Amnesty International,[101] and Human Rights Watch[102] have criticized Lukashenko's violations of human rights. In 2007, Belarus's population declined by 0.41% and its fertility rate was 1.22,[246] well below the replacement rate. He was named by Svetlana Alexievich, the Belarusian winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2015, as "her main teacher, who helped her to find a path of her own". The currency was introduced in May 1992 to replace the Soviet ruble and it has undergone redenomination twice since then. Lukashenko was officially re-elected in 2001, in 2006, in 2010, in 2015 and again in 2020, although none of those elections were considered free or fair nor democratic.[91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100]. [277], This article is about the Republic of Belarus. [17][82][83] The population of Belarus did not regain its pre-war level until 1971. Europe's 'last dictator': Who is Belarus's Alexander Lukashenko? There were 679,000 unemployed Belarusians, two-thirds of whom were women. While the freedom of worship is granted in the same article, religious organizations deemed harmful to the government or social order can be prohibited. The law was compared with serfdom by Lukashenko himself. Which European countries are not in NATO? - AS USA [122] The average elevation of Belarus is 160m (525ft) above sea level. The Byelorussian SSR was the hardest-hit Soviet republic in World War II; it remained in Nazi hands until 1944. Vietnam. Since his election as president in 1994, Alexander Lukashenko has consolidated his rule over all institutions and undermined the rule of law through . These territorial units may also be classified as a city of regional or raion subordination, urban-type settlement or rural settlement, but whose government is administered by the council of another primary or basic unit. [253] The Lipka Tatars, numbering over 15,000, are predominantly Muslims. Belarus's beleaguered government remains unfazed by covid-19. [196] In May 2021, Lukashenko threatened that he will flood the European Union with migrants and drugs as a response to the sanctions. A two-round election for the presidency on 24 June 1994 and 10 July 1994[36] catapulted the formerly unknown Alexander Lukashenko into national prominence. Though the opposition candidates, mostly associated with the pro-independence Belarusian Popular Front, took only 10% of the seats,[89] Belarus declared itself sovereign on 27 July 1990 by issuing the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. 1919 - The Russian Red Army conquers Belarus, and establishes communist rule. [41] The region was first permanently settled by Baltic tribes in the 3rd century. [citation needed] The borders of the Byelorussian SSR and Poland were redrawn, in accord with the 1919-proposed Curzon Line. [66], The Republic of Central Lithuania was a short-lived political entity, which was the last attempt to restore Lithuania in the historical confederacy state (it was also supposed to create Lithuania Upper and Lithuania Lower). Vigorous postwar reconstruction promptly followed the end of the war and the Byelorussian SSR became a major center of manufacturing in the western USSR, creating jobs and attracting ethnic Russians. The official version of events as publicised by the Belarusian government was questioned in the unprecedented wording of the UN Security Council statement condemning "the apparent terrorist attack" intimating the possibility that the Belarusian government itself was behind the bombing. Belarus profile - Timeline - BBC News After the war, it was estimated that 2.2 million local inhabitants had died and of those some 810,000 were combatantssome foreign. [121] It is landlocked, relatively flat, and contains large tracts of marshy land. The Statutes allowed the right to own land only to noble families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. [272], Belarusian cuisine consists mainly of vegetables, meat (particularly pork), and bread. We give money to Belarus, which is Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's closest ally. The games will feature 57 medal events in ten sports. [231], The labor force consists of more than four million people, among whom women hold slightly more jobs than men. Its population is also aging; the median age of 3034 is estimated to rise to between 60 and 64 in 2050. [103] Around the same time the 2011 Minsk Metro bombing occurred in which 15 people were killed and 204 were injured. [73][74] In 1935, after the death of Pisudski, a new wave of repressions was released upon the minorities, with many Orthodox churches and Belarusian schools being closed. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. This policy was reversed in the 1930s, and the majority of prominent Belarusian intellectuals and nationalist advocates were either exiled or killed in Stalinist purges. The US has given hundreds of millions of dollars to Zimbabwe, a country with one of the most anti-American voting records in the UN. Several poets and authors went into exile after the Nazi occupation of Belarus and would not return until the 1960s. The number of people employed in the industry is 34.7% of the working population. On December 25, 1991, the United States recognized the independence of the Republic of Belarus, and on December 28, 1991, Belarus and the United States established diplomatic relations. Belarus has a population density of about 50 people per square kilometre (127 per sqmi); 70% of its total population is concentrated in urban areas. [104], Mass protests erupted across the country following the disputed 2020 Belarusian presidential election,[105] in which Lukashenko sought a sixth term in office. Alice Neel's Communist Manifesto - ArtReview Polish activist convicted in Belarus appeals against verdict Andrei Arlovski, who was born in Babruysk, Byelorussian SSR, is a current UFC fighter and the former UFC heavyweight champion of the world. Until it became independent in 1991, Belarus, formerly known as Belorussia or White Russia, was the smallest of the three Slavic republics included in the Soviet Union (the larger two being Russia and Ukraine). 10 Most Censored Countries - Committee to Protect Journalists ., 2006.. Stubborn Structures: Reconceptualizing Postcommunist Regimes [126], The highest point is Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (Dzyarzhynsk Hill) at 345 metres (1,132ft), and the lowest point is on the Neman River at 90m (295ft). [205] Each region has a provincial legislative authority, called a region council (Belarusian: ; Russian: ), which is elected by its residents, and a provincial executive authority called a region administration (Belarusian: ; Russian: ), whose chairman is appointed by the president. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) ruled that the elections were unfair because opposition candidates were arbitrarily denied registration and the election process was designed to favor the ruling party. [177], Most of Belarus's service members are conscripts, who serve for 12 months if they have higher education or 18 months if they do not. [143], Belarus has often been described as "Europe's last dictatorship" by some media outlets, politicians and authors due to its authoritarian government. [230] Belarus applied to become a member of the World Trade Organization in 1993. [267][268], Marc Chagall was born in Liozna (near Vitebsk) in 1887. The Head of State is the President of the Republic of Belarus. In the 1990s some raised the estimate even higher, to 2.7 million. [205] Each raion has its own legislative authority, or raion council, (Belarusian: ; Russian: ) elected by its residents, and an executive authority or raion administration appointed by oblast executive powers. For criminal cases, the highest court of appeal is the Supreme Court. [81] The Jewish population of Belarus was devastated during the Holocaust and never recovered. Belarus - Countries - Office of the Historian Europe's last dictator: The rise and (possible) fall of Alyaksandr In January 1919 a part of Belarus under Bolshevik Russian control was declared the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia (SSRB) for just two months, but then merged with the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (LSSR) to form the Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia (SSR LiB), which lost control of its territories by August. Overall, 48.3% of the population is Orthodox Christian, 41.1% is not religious, 7.1% is Roman Catholic and 3.3% follows other religions. Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe.It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Numerous Belarusian players are present in the Kontinental Hockey League in Eurasia, particularly for Belarusian club HC Dinamo Minsk, and several have also played in the National Hockey League in North America. Connecting Fox News' Tucker Carlson, Hungary and Trump Politics of Belarus - Wikipedia In the 19th century, Polish composer Stanisaw Moniuszko composed operas and chamber music pieces while living in Minsk. [243] Minsk, the nation's capital and largest city, was home to 1,937,900 residents in 2015[update]. Not a cent to Communist China': Nikki Haley's big claim on Covid-19 and install a government of loyalists to intensify Communist Party control over the economy and society. In 2011, Belarus suffered a severe economic crisis attributed to Lukashenko's government's centralized control of the economy, with inflation reaching 108.7%. Policies of Polonization[58] changed by Russification,[59] which included the return to Orthodox Christianity of Belarusian Uniates. Also, the Belarusian Byzantine Catholic Church was formed by the Poles in order to bring Orthodox Christians into the See of Rome. Belarus, by constitution, is a presidential republic with separation of powers, governed by a president and the National Assembly. [82] This policy involved sending Russians from various parts of the Soviet Union and placing them in key positions in the Byelorussian SSR government. [194] In an interview from September 2020 Lukashenko claimed that detainees faked their bruises, saying, "Some of the girls there had their butts painted in blue". Sino-Belarusian relations have improved,[169] strengthened by the visit of President Lukashenko to China in October 2005. Treaties in 1995 and 1996 demarcated Belarus's borders with Latvia and Lithuania, and Belarus ratified a 1997 treaty establishing the Belarus-Ukraine border in 2009. Washington and Beijing are competing . Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is in the midst of a three-day visit to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping . Belarus - Government and society | Britannica Although Belarus is now an independent nation, it is also an isolated dictatorship that has in some ways remained unchanged since the 1990s, and is largely seen both culturally and. A national constitution was adopted in March 1994 in which the functions of prime minister were given to the President of Belarus. [120], Belarus lies between latitudes 51 and 57 N, and longitudes 23 and 33 E. Its extension from north to south is 560km (350mi), from west to east is 650km (400mi). A famed Black Panther who's also a communist has faced calls to pay reparations after discovering her ancestors were white puritans who arrived in the US on the Mayflower. After Stalin's death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev continued his predecessor's cultural hegemony program, stating, "The sooner we all start speaking Russian, the faster we shall build communism. [150], Neither the pro-Lukashenko parties, such as the Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party and the Republican Party of Labour and Justice nor the People's Coalition 5 Plus opposition parties, such as the Belarusian People's Front and the United Civil Party of Belarus, won any seats in the 2004 elections. Much of the northern section of this area was added to the Byelorussian SSR, and now constitutes West Belarus. Foods are usually either slowly cooked or stewed. Flutter Entertainment Plc: The online gambling firm reported higher full-year revenues and profits, after winning two million new monthly customers through acquisitions and newly legalized sports . The transformation of the ex-Soviet forces into the Armed Forces of Belarus, which was completed in 1997, reduced the number of its soldiers by 30,000 and restructured its leadership and military formations. Ella Reeve Bloor was one of the founders of the Communist Labor Party of America, a predecessor of the Communist Party of the USA, and a tireless labour organiser during the Great Depression. Belarus country profile - BBC News [73][74] Use of the Belarusian language was discouraged. These articles were aimed to defend the rights of the Lithuanian nobility within the duchy against Polish and other nobles of the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth. Yet another hypothesis is based on the idea that Gudija in Lithuanian means "the other" and may have been used historically by Lithuanians to refer to any people who did not speak Lithuanian. However, its 60th place ranking in the United Nations' Human Development Index places it in the category of states with; "very high" human development. Bulgaria - The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency There is no better example of communism's. [122] About 40% of Belarus is covered by forests. We even give money to Communist Cuba a country our own government has designated as a state sponsor of terrorism," Haley said. "[82], Soviet Belarusian communist politician Andrei Gromyko, who served as Soviet foreign minister (19571985) and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (19851988), was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy until he was replaced by Eduard Shevardnadze. [129] The United Nations and other agencies have aimed to reduce the level of radiation in affected areas, especially through the use of caesium binders and rapeseed cultivation, which are meant to decrease soil levels of caesium-137. Belarus - The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency ", "No Job? Map of Eastern Europe (Eng. From 1 July until 31 December 2016, the old and new currencies were in parallel circulation and series 2000 notes and coins can be exchanged for series 2009 from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021. Noticeable gymnasts include Inna Zhukova, who earned silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Liubov Charkashyna, who earned bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and Melitina Staniouta, Bronze All-Around Medalist of the 2015 World Championships. While Russia is no longer communist, its president, Vladimir Putin, considers the fall of the Soviet Union the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century" and is currently (as of. This Holocaust monument in Belarus is haunting - and subversive