Questions tagged [belarus]

For questions about the government and politics of Belarus, a landlocked country in Eastern Europe - officially the Republic of Belarus and formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
-1 votes
1 answer
364 views

How would a neutral observer compare the presence of US nukes in Europe to the presence of Russian nukes in Belarus?

USA in Germany Germany has no nuclear weapons of its own, but it stores 20 or fewer U.S. B-61 nuclear gravity bombs at Büchel air base, and maintains a fleet of aging Tornado fighter bombers to ...
Italian Philosophers 4 Monica's user avatar
29 votes
6 answers
7k views

Why is deploying nuclear weapons in Belarus seen as a problem, and how would this help Russia?

Recently (May 2023) Russia decided to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus. This has been reported in many sources. At least Russia represents this as a serious escalation, something that they were "...
Stančikas's user avatar
  • 16.5k
22 votes
5 answers
8k views

Why would Putin refer to Lukashenko as Potato Moose?

I'm unsure whether my question is on-topic, but I learn Russian and got really curious when reading a Radio France Internationale article of September 2021 written in Russian and quoting a Russian ...
Mitsuko's user avatar
  • 3,535
4 votes
1 answer
105 views

Did Russia significantly reduce economic aid (or subsidies) to Belarus around/after 2014?

According to one Western source Russia was subsidizing 10–15 percent of Belarus' GDP around 2013 or so. Another source source quantifies that differently as "Between 2005 and 2015, Moscow pumped $...
Fizz's user avatar
  • 144k
5 votes
1 answer
574 views

Have the US and UK explained if they view sanctions on Belarus as breaching the Budapest Memorandum?

One of the clauses of the Budapest Memorandum is (page 20): The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America reaffirm their ...
Allure's user avatar
  • 32.4k
4 votes
1 answer
409 views

If Belarus allows deployment of Russian nuclear weapons on its territory (as Macron claims) would that violate any commitments Belarus has undertaken?

News is that: French President Emmanuel Macron has asked his Belarus counterpart to demand that the country, Ukraine’s neighbor, quickly order Russian troops to leave, claiming Moscow has been given ...
Fizz's user avatar
  • 144k
4 votes
0 answers
105 views

Are there any considerable sanctions imposed against Belarus related to the Ukrainian invasion? [duplicate]

In most of the news I hear about the West imposing sanctions against Russia in retaliation for the invasion, but have not read anything related to sanctions against Belarus. Seeing that Belarus is ...
Salvador Dali's user avatar
17 votes
4 answers
4k views

Why is the West ignoring Belarus when threatening with sanctions related to the current Ukraine and Russia situation?

When reading different news outlets (e.g. Associated Press, CNN, Reuters) it seems the west is focused on threatening Russia with action should it decide to go forward with the expected (from the west ...
HaroldH's user avatar
  • 568
2 votes
1 answer
132 views

Why does Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya think Belarus deploying troops to Syria is contrary to national interests?

Belarus to send 200 troops to Syria alongside Russians Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition challenger to Lukashenko who was forced to leave the country after Lukashenko's re-election to a ...
Allure's user avatar
  • 32.4k
8 votes
2 answers
324 views

What are the arguments for destabilization as a Lukashenko motive?

It is November 2021 and thousands of people from Syria and Iraq are trying to cross the Belarus border into the EU. The migrants are transported to the border by Belarusian officials. On the EU side ...
Ivana's user avatar
  • 589
7 votes
2 answers
549 views

What is the EU's official explanation for why it's opposed to refugees arriving via Belarus?

Belarus has been in the news recently due to their attempt to transport a large number of refugees into the EU: First Belarus arranged for a few hundred migrants to cross the border into Lithuania. ...
JonathanReez's user avatar
  • 52.6k
-1 votes
1 answer
408 views

Why is the Belarus plane grounding incident treated more harshly than a similar one caused by the USA? [closed]

EU is punishing Belarus with economic sanctions for grounding a plane to arrest a journalist, as well as blacklisting certain individuals from entering its territory and freezing their assets. Why is ...
Ruslan Oblov's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why is support for parties so low in Belarus?

Combining the Council of the Republic and the House of Representatives, Belarus has 135 independent members out of 174 total. Why is the support for political parties so low in Belarus? What history ...
frankpujo's user avatar
  • 326
0 votes
1 answer
191 views

What is the military power of the Belarus, compared to the neighbor states?

What is the military power of the Belarus, compared to the neighbor states, in particular, Poland? The reports like those from GlobalFirePower seems to be based on sheer numbers, but one thing is ...
Danubian Sailor's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
430 views

Why is Protasevich so important for Lukashenko that he risked international sanctions in order to arrest him?

I understand the willingness to arrest him, but is he really so important, that it was worth forcing foreign aircraft with uninvolved passengers to land, under the escort of the military aircraft? ...
Danubian Sailor's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
1k views

What would have been the probable reaction if the Belarusian planes had entered Lithuanian airspace? [closed]

The Belarusian government hijacked a Ryanair plane (or "diverted", to use a more neutral word) above its territory to capture Roman Protasevich, a member of the opposition to President ...
WoJ's user avatar
  • 2,518
0 votes
1 answer
102 views

Precedents of forced plane landing? [duplicate]

Recently, Belarus is being accused for forcing a passenger liner to land, for arresting one of its passengers. Were there any such precedents before?
user2501323's user avatar
  • 11.8k
4 votes
1 answer
299 views

What is the significance of Ukrainian and Belarusian flags on anti-Zeman protest rally in Prague?

On 30 April 2021, thousands of Czechs have rallied in Prague against President Milos Zeman, calling for his removal from office and condemning what opponents say are his pro-Russia views. Photo by ...
Be Brave Be Like Ukraine's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
954 views

What would Alexander Lukashenko gain from a referendum on Belarus joining the Russian Federation?

In response to the protests regarding the Belarusian presidential election, Lukashenko in early September pondered the possibility of a referendum on Belarus joining the Russian Federation. Suppose ...
user149408's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
365 views

Is opposition against Lukashenko equally strong outside of Belarus cities?

On the 9th of August 2020 the country of Belarus held presidential elections. Incumbent Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected to a sixth term in office, with official results crediting him with 80 ...
Ivana's user avatar
  • 589
4 votes
0 answers
641 views

Why does Belarus not seem to have ratified any protocol from European Convention on Human Rights?

Territorial scope of European Convention on Human Rights Wikipedia article does not include Belarus. Human rights issues are confirmed by multiple articles such as this one: The government ...
Alexei's user avatar
  • 52.6k