new analysis on relations between belarus and russia

 

March 19, 2008 - The Pontis Foundation and the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies (BISS) are pleased to announce that new Belarus Public Policy Fund analytical series are launched with a paper summarizing the rocky rather than rosy relations between Belarus and Russia. Building on the previous analytical service of the Pontis Foundation, this new series aims to bring new perspectives from independent Belarusian experts on various public policy issues of strategic importance which Belarus is facing today. In this way, Pontis and BISS hope to enhance awareness about these issues both in Belarus and among international community and to bolster public dialogue necessary for a new vision for Belarus.

 

The first analysis within the Belarus Public Policy Fund series deals with the “brotherly” relations between Belarus and Russia which comes just before the coronation of the new Russian president Medvedev expected in May. The paper takes a deeper look into the interesting changes in the relationship between Minsk and Moscow which are currently afoot and examines them in dynamics in detail, looking at the newly-acquired confidence shown by Lukashenka in his dealings with Russia.

 

Meanwhile in the metropolis of Moscow, the priorities of the Russians seem to have changed. The first in the series looks into what factors could have caused a change in attitude to the Belarusians, whilst discussing the central role of business and its influence on the murky world of Minsk politics.

 

Finally, the paper investigates the idea of a union between the two countries, whilst exploring what influence a change in power dynamics can have on such a proposal. Under these latest circumstances, Russia and Belarus are beginning to formulate an appealing new relationship.