· February, 2006

Stories about Belarus from February, 2006

Belarus: Elections and the Atmosphere of Fear

  28 February 2006

Tobias Ljungvall writes about the beginning of the election campaign in Belarus, the backlash against the opposition, and the atmosphere of fear reported by Gunnel Arbin, a Swedish journalist who has recently traveled to Belarus. Among the scare techniques used by the regime is a new article in the criminal...

Belarus: Microsoft's Russification Policy

  20 February 2006

br23 blog encourages Belarusian Internet users to write to Microsoft to protest what appears to be the company's Russification policy: “If in your browser settings you chose Belarusian as the first language […], then all the materials on support.microsoft.com would always appear to you in Russian. Even if you explicitly...

Belarus: Moscow Solidarity Rally

  20 February 2006

LJ user greenmih, a Russian photographer, posts black-and-white photos from an anti-Lukashenko, pro-Belarus solidarity rally that took place in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow this past Saturday (RUS). Politically-minded hooligans tried to disrupt the rally, but did not succeed.

Belarus: Four Presidential Candidates

  20 February 2006

br23 blog introduces the four Belarusian politicians who have managed to collect more than 100,000 signatures and were registered by the Central Election Committee as presidential candidates: Alexander Lukashenka, Siarhiej Hajdukevich, Alexander Kazulin, and Alexander Milinkevich.

Belarus: Lukashenko Regime and the Upcoming Election

  20 February 2006

Tobias Ljungvall draws a parallel between today's Belarus and Russia under Lenin, and muses about Lukashenko's regime, the Russian ‘managed democracy’ model and the upcoming election. He also mentions solidarity rallies that took place in Stockholm on Feb. 16 – and one that was dispersed by the police in Minsk.

Pavlov, Pavlovskiy and Nemtsov, and the Belarusian Election

  13 February 2006

Tobias Ljungvall wonders what really draws certain people into Belarusian pre-election politics. Among those whose real motivations and intentions he'd like to know are Gleb Pavlovskiy, “the Kremlin's own favourite ‘political technologist’,” and Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition politician.

Belarusian Internet, Politics and the German Media

  13 February 2006

A Deutsche Presse-Agentur's report said new prohibitive legislation had been passed in Belarus, “effectively banning home access to the Internet.” br23 blog explains why the German agency is “totally wrong” in its interpretation (and, possibly, translation) of the law, and offers a few more clarifications on Belarus, its Internet and...

Belarus Opposition and the Internet

7 February 2006

br23 blog discusses the increasing use of the Internet by the Belarusian oppostion, as well as the problem of censorship, which will, no doubt, grow more and more serious with the approach of the March 17 presidential election.