Belarusian Citizens Research Articles

THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF UNILATERAL COERCIVE MEASURES ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WORKERS OF BELARUSIAN ENTERPRISES

The article analyzes unilateral coercive measures taken against Belarusian legal entities in the context of the impact of such measures on the realization of fundamental human rights. Based on the legal analysis of specific examples of sanctions against Belarusian legal entities, the author proposes to develop Recommendations for states and legal entities under sanctions to ensure the protection of human rights under sanctions pressure. and also to keep official state statistics on the impact of sanctions on the rights of Belarusian citizens. At the national level, it is advisable for the BISI to conduct a study analyzing the impact of unilateral coercive measures on the realization of the rights of employees of Belarusian enterprises, and the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus to develop a Questionnaire to study the impact of unilateral coercive measures on the activities of Belarusian enterprises.

Społeczne i demograficzne cechy procesu migracji z Białorusi do Polski w latach 2016–2020

Social and Demographic Features of the Migration Process from Belarus to Poland in 2016–2020 This article analyses the process of migration from Belarus to Poland in the second decade of the 21st century. The aim of the article is to reveal the social and demographic features of the migration movement from Belarus to Poland and to show the specific motivation and adaptation of Belarusian immigrants in Poland as a new place of settlement. In order to achieve the intended purpose, the article will answer the following questions: what is the socio-demographic features of the migration movement from Belarus to Poland? What are the motives of migration of Belarusian citizens to Poland? What are the specific features of adaptation of Belarusian immigrants in the new place of settlement? In order to obtain answers to the questions posed, a comprehensive methodology was used: analysis of found statistical data and qualitative research conducted with the technique of individual in-depth interview. The analysis of the found statistical data created a perspective for presenting the specifics of migration, first of all as a physical spatial movement from Belarus to Poland, and also made it possible to detail the social profile of Belarusian immigrants. At the same time, the data collected as part of the qualitative study provided a basis for defining the specifics of the adaptation process and learning about migration motivation among Belarusian immigrants.

Information coverage of protests in the Republic of Belarus in 2020 in social media and mass media: Dynamics and patterns

The article presents a socio-media analysis of protest moods in the Republic of Belarus in 2020. As part of working with a database collected through IQ Buzz, the author presented the dynamics of protest mentions in social media by main time intervals and cities of the country, the rating of the most popular words, and also showed the role of external forces in influencing the protest moods of Belarusian citizens. The results obtained allow us to consider the process of organizing mass protests through media tools as a technology with its own patterns and features.

Русофобия и трансформация чешской либеральной демократии в связи с украинским кризисом

The article inquires into the transformation of Czech domestic politics in connection with the military operation in Ukraine and the related anti-Russian campaign conducted by the Western liberal democracies. The study focuses on the restriction of fundamental rights and freedoms, the introduction of censorship measures, the criminalization of the „dissent“, active state counter-propaganda, as well as discrimination against the Russian and Belarusian citizens and subjects in various spheres of the public life in the Czech Republic. The analysis reveals the contradictory character of the Czech state policy that undermines the very foundations of the rule of law with the participation of the interest groups supported from abroad. The transformation of the existing model towards „liberal authoritarianism“ is studied within the framework of the securitisation process, an integral part of which is the radical de-Russification of Czech society.

Educational and scientific programmes for the citizens of Belarus as an example of science diplomacy – a political and legal analysis

Owing to current events in Belarus (political and social, including the economic crisis and the ongoing activities that are having a negative impact on the functioning of opposition movements), the country is becoming an arena of competition for influence. In the context of the subject of this analysis, rivalry, especially in terms of the influence of other states on Belarusian society, is of key importance. Science diplomacy may be a tool of competition for influence. The fact that science diplomacy can be both a tool with which to cooperate with other countries in the region and a tool of competition for influence is of key importance in analysing this problem. The scientific potential of the Belarusian community is also of interest to other countries, including Ukraine, Lithuania, and Germany. The effective and efficient implementation of science diplomacy activities towards Belarus is undoubtedly in line with the well-understood Polish national interest. The aim of the article was to conduct a political and legal analysis of the process by which Poland is using science diplomacy as a tool for influencing the scientific community of Belarus. Another research goal was to analyse the activities undertaken by two other countries in the region – Ukraine and Lithuania – with respect to science diplomacy. The article also aimed to analyse the formal and legal conditions related to the normative solutions used in the countries under analysis, enabling the undertaking and implementation of education by Belarusian citizens. The educational and scientific programmes offered to students and scientists from Belarus in Poland were also subject to legal analyses. The whole analysis is supplemented and concluded by an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the activities carried out so far.

Razvitie mezhregional'nyh svyazej Rossii i Belarusi v usloviyah cifrovizacii edinogo nauchno-tekhnologicheskogo prostranstva Soyuznogo gosudarstva

The political crisis, which has been going on in Belarus since August 2020, is accompanied by crisis phenomena, also in the economy: gold and foreign exchange reserves are declining, public debt is growing, the credit rating is the lowest in Europe (B/B), warehouses are overstocked with unrealized products. Russia, which accounts for about half of Belarus' foreign trade, supports Belarus and promotes closer integration within the Union State. Hence the dualism of Belarus' foreign policy: on the one hand, it votes synchronously with the Russian Federation against UNGA resolutions, and on the other hand, it benefits from trade and economic cooperation with neighboring states. At the same time, there were also aggravations in relations, such as the detention in 2017 of Belarusian citizens on charges of espionage, mutual expulsions of embassy staff.

Exhibition Review: Every Day. Art. Solidarity. Resistance

Exhibition Review: <i>Every Day. Art. Solidarity. Resistance</i>

The Predicament of Europe’s ‘Last Dictator’

Belarusian citizens elected their first president in 1994. More than 20 years later, in October 2015, the same person triumphantly won the fifth consecutive presidential election. In August 2020, President Lukashenko’s attempt to get re-elected for the sixth time ended in months’ long mass protests against the electoral fraud, unspeakable violence used by the riot police against peaceful protesters and the deepest political crisis in the modern history of Belarus. This article analyzes how and why the first democratically elected Belarusian president attained this long-serving status. It suggests that his political longevity was conditioned by a specific social contract with the society that was sustained for many years. In light of the recent events, it is obvious that the contract is breached with the regime no longer living up to the bargain with the Belarusian people. As a result, the citizens seem unwilling to maintain their obligation for loyalty. We analyze the escalating daily price for maintaining the status quo and conclude considering the possible implications of this broken pact for the future of Belarus.

Emigration from Belarus: Problems of Underestimation

The article covers matters of improving measurement on emigration from Belarus. The author views the current role of external migration as a major component of formation of the population in the Republic of Belarus. The effectiveness of the country socio-economic development programs depends, according to the author, on adequate measures for evaluating the phenomenon in question. The article gives a detailed description of national migration statistics, which, as in many countries, underestimates the number of emigrants, and considers the possibilities of the so-called «mirror» statistics (statistics from countries where Belarusian residents emigrate to) in obtaining real information on the size of emigration from Belarus.After the introduction, the author analyses some of the most important publications on the subject under discussion, concludes the current state of current statistics and population censuses. The article contains the rationale for choosing foreign countries whose data are used as «mirror» statistics necessary for a more realistic estimation of emigration processes and comments on the geography of migration flows from Belarus. The author assesses the gap in data from «mirror» statistics and the official Belarusian statistics and gives an opinion on the real trends in migration flows of Belarusian citizens, along with the authors own estimates of the country’s population growth, which differ markedly from official statistics.In the opinion of the author, formulated in the final part of the article, the actual amount of the underestimation is considerably higher than can be assumed using «mirror» statistics, because, for example, there is a group of Belarusian citizens in Poland and Russia, that is not reflected in official statistics on migrants. The article therefore proposes to establish a system of information exchange between Belarus and the main countries of emigration, especially Russia and Poland, with which it is difficult to assess the extent of emigration based solely on official data, and to establish regular surveys on emigration.

ПРОБЛЕМИ ТА ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ БІЛОРУСЬКОЇ ДІАСПОРИ В СУЧАСНІЙ УКРАЇНІ У СВІТЛІ ПОДІЙ БІЛОРУСЬКОЇ РЕВОЛЮЦІЇ ГІДНОСТІ І СВОБОДИ

The problem of emigration to Ukraine of a significant number of Belarusian citizens due to the events of the Belarusian anti-Lukashenko revolution of dignity and freedom, which began in this country in August 2020 after the presidential election, is discussed in the article. It is noted that at the beginning of 2021 the number of those who fled to Ukraine, hiding from repression and persecution by the Belarusian authorities, was already more than 75 thousand people. In the future, the number of Belarusian refugees is projected to increase to 100-120 thousand people by 2021. It is unknown yet which of these people will join the Belarusian Diaspora in Ukraine, which before these events was the second largest Diaspora in Ukraine. And who considers Ukraine only as a territory of transit further to the East, or the West, for example, to Poland. In connection with these events, the Ukrainian state and society faced a series of challenges, problems and threats, to which it will be necessary to find adequate answers. In particular, the authors of the article consider unjustified some warnings expressed by patriotic Ukrainian citizens about the possible growth of pro-Russian sentiment in Ukraine due to the arrival and settlement of Belarusian refugees here. It seems logical that people with pro-Russian sentiments would rather immigrate to Russia than come to Ukraine. It is expected that a significant problem for the newly arrived Belarusians may be the understanding and establishment of dialogue and contacts with the "old" Belarusian Diaspora in Ukraine because of its commitment to Lukashenko and sympathy for Russia. It is concluded that Belarusian citizens, active participants in the Belarusian revolution, can become a useful enzyme for accelerating the reform processes in Ukraine and will contribute to further democratic and pro-European movement in this area.

Everyday labour life in occupied Belarus in 1941–1944 (on the basis of the German trophy documents)

Everyday work of Belarusian citizens during the German occupation is explored on the basis of German trophy documents. The article is based on the materials of the Fund 378 of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus. The documents give an idea of many aspects of occupational life through the prism of the activities of one institution – the Main Railway Directorate «Minsk» and shed light on many «white spots» of the everyday work of the population of Belarus. The presented study aims, first of all, to introduce into scientific circulation a significant set of factual material on the problem of everyday work and the use of local people labour by the occupation authorities. That shows the problem from a new perspective and creates factual basis for further conceptual study of the issue. The German occupation authorities gave exceptional importance to the issue of gaining the support of the population of Belarus. With this purpose, they developed directive documents, analyzed the mood and labour potential of local workers. Using the method of «carrots and sticks», the railway management in occupied Belarus understood that it depended on the local population, therefore, in addition to repressive methods and the organization of the control system, the issues of providing products and creating social guarantees were raised. The wage premiums, bonuses, rewards, delivery of products and delicacies, charity and assistance to the families of employees were supposed to increase productivity and stimulate the work of local railway workers. However, the occupation authorities regularly noted a low desire to work and the escape of local workers to the partisans. The introduction to the scientific turnover of the information of the unique documents of Main Railway Directorate «Minsk» can not only significantly extend the factual basis of the research of the period of German occupation of Belarus, but also pose a number of theoretical questions. New documentary sources make it possible to add to the currently existing assessment of the use of labour by the local population solely as betrayal or forced slave labor. Using new sources and modern methodological approaches, the survival strategies of ordinary people under occupation should be analyzed. Information sources of the сollection of documents of the Main Railway Directorate «Minsk» raise questions about the conditions of survival of local workers at other enterprises, in other fields of labour and regions of the occupied territory of Belarus.

Conservation of disappearing cultural landscape\u2019s biodiversity: are people in Belarus willing to pay for wet grassland restoration?

Abandonment of traditional farming practices, such as hay-making and pasturing, has resulted in rapid loss of open wet grassland habitats in Europe. The globally threatened Aquatic Warbler (Acrocephalus paludicola L.) is a bird species that occurs almost exclusively in open fen mires, which have virtually disappeared in Western Europe, but still persist locally in Eastern Europe. Focusing on the world’s most important breeding site for Aquatic Warbler, the Zvaniec fen mire in Belarus, we estimated Belarusian citizens’ willingness-to-pay for adequate conservation management of this fen mire and its focal species the Aquatic Warbler. Results from a discrete choice experiment indicated that Belarusian citizens were willing to pay for appropriate conservation programmes of the Zvaniec fen mire. Scything and mechanical mowing were preferred compared to controlled burning, and especially over herbicide treatment of encroaching shrubs. Conservation management was preferred over legal protection of wetland areas without management. Respondents considered such passive conservation to be insufficient to maintain open fen mire habitat and gave a higher priority to active conservation management programmes. These preferences are consistent with evidence-based knowledge about what is effective conservation management for the Aquatic Warbler. Given the gradual disappearance of Europe’s traditional cultural landscapes, we discuss the challenge to fund the maintenance of this biocultural biodiversity legacy.

Identity in an Autocratic State: Or What Belarusians Talk about When They Talk about National Identity

How does the role of ordinary citizens change in the interpretation and production of national identity under an authoritarian political system? Exploring the discursive role of authoritarian political stability on perceptions of national identity, this study examines how categories of “national” are appropriated and internalized in identity talks among Belarusians. It offers a bottom–up perspective on national identification, drawing on analysis of six focus group discussions with Belarusian citizens. The main objective was to observe everyday language and how people construct symbolic significance for certain practices as “national” and what are the meanings invested in replicating and re-enacting different identity markers, given the contingencies of everyday life in an authoritarian political context. I evaluate cross-group and intergroup discursive variations in responses and repertoires of volunteer participants in terms of agreement and disagreement. Public conformity with regime ideational practices does not appear to equate with political allegiance to the current regime. Even when identity repertoires echo the identity discourses of official state ideology, people attach their own meanings and interpretations to these identity markers. However, I find that the authoritarian context affects how identity repertoires are enacted and talked about. Integrating performative aspects of identity talks into the analysis, I note how participants consciously reflect on the sensitivity of political topics, and prioritize politically neutral narratives.

Are bilateral conservation policies for the Białowieża forest unattainable? Analysis of stated preferences of Polish and Belarusian public

Transboundary nature protected areas constitute a considerable proportion of all the existing spatial forms of biodiversity protection. One prominent example is the Białowieża Forest, shared by Poland and Belarus. There is a considerable literature on allocation of funds to preserving nature shared by several countries. Some of this literature assess the funding schemes and the impacts on biodiversity within the EU. A particular challenge for the Białowieża Forest is that the larger part of it is outside the EU border. There has been less research on the economic benefits that citizens attach to protected transboundary land nature on the other side of the border. We are trying to fill the gap by finding out and comparing preferences towards increased protection of domestic and foreign segments of the transboundary Białowieża Forest, stated by samples of Polish and Belarusian citizens. The results of a discrete choice experiment show an almost unilateral preference for nature conservation, passive protection of forest land, on the domestic side. Whilst Polish respondents on average are willing to pay for an increased area under protection, on their side of the border, most Belarusians seem to be satisfied with the status quo. Taken at face value, there is even an apparent mutual disutility derived from the perspective of co-financing bilateral passive protection programmes in the Białowieża Forest. By use of latent class analyses of responses, a group of the Polish sample willing to contribute to the transboundary conservation is identified and described, and compared against the non-cooperative groups on both sides of the border. The results can to some extent be explained by a strict border division with a high fence, by differences in welfare or by behavioural reasons. However, it cannot be ruled out that the affected populations simply do not perceive the Białowieża Forest as a binational public good.

AB0026 Genetic markers of secondary amyloidosis in belarusian patiens with rheumatoid arthitis

BackgroundThe development of secondary (AA) amyloidosis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is considered to be extensively determined by genotype characteristics. Serum amyloid A protein (SAA) is synthesized by liver under inflammatory...

P-1429 - The analysis of suicide notes

Introduction Suicide notes are the only personal interpretation evidence of his action causes among all possible information sources about suicide. Objectives To improve quality of suicide prevention by the mean of suicide notes analysis. Objects of the study: 77 suicide notes of Belarusian citizens who had committed suicide and corresponding prosecutor's reports. Methods Evaluation of the formal visual characteristics of notes and demographic data, content analysis (note addressee, stated reason, manifested affect, dominant theme and direction of the charges). Results The mean age of the sample was 43.8 years, 87% were male. 75% of the notes had specific addressee, 32.2% of them were directed to a spouse. In 55.8% of notes the main theme was “apology”, in 50.7% it was 'inability to stand the pain/illness “, but the main emotion displayed by half of cases was “guilt”. The vast majority of notes with the theme “charge” belonged to men (92.6%), 60% of these charges were directed to their wives. Women most frequently reported such reasons as “avoiding” (80%) and “self-punishment '(40%), men - a “protest/revenge” and “coercion”- in 32.8% and 23.9% respectively. Notes of women were characterized by higher volume, accuracy, consistency, and literacy. For persons aged 26–35 years the main causes of suicide were “protest/revenge” and “coercion”, and for those at the age of 66–75 years - “avoidance” and “rational denial'. Conclusion Age and gender tendencies of suicide causes should be considered in planning the suicide prevention strategies in different age groups.

Going It Alone: Belarus as the Non-European European State

In the second paper of a symposium devoted to the contemporary status of Belarus, a noted American specialist on the electoral geography of the states of the former Soviet Union challenges assertions in the preceding article (Ioffe and Yarashevich, 2011) that only Russia and Ukraine are valid comparators against which to gauge the success of the Lukashenka model. Expanding the scope of comparison to include the three other countries neighboring Belarus (Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland), he demonstrates that a broader range of policy changes can be considered by its leadership in efforts to limit damage from the economic crisis in Belarus and position the country for renewed growth within a global economic frame-work. Examination of a wide range of social and economic indicators and government policies reveals, however, that in many ways an unreformed Belarus is poorly positioned for competition in an increasingly interconnected world, in which the elements for successful development are quite different from those providing economic stability in the past. A closing section of the paper revisits the debate on whether most Belarusian citizens actually aspire to a more "European" way of life or instead prefer the "Eastern" alignment and reliance on a Russian benefactor whose own economic future looks increasingly uncertain.

A populist island in an ocean of clan politics: the Lukashenka regime as an exception among CIS countries

THE COLLAPSE OF SOCIALIST REGIMES in Eastern Europe and Eurasia resulted in the polarisation of politics.' In East Central European and Baltic countries (henceforth, Western post-communist countries2) political parties began to play an important role already in the early stage of transition. In these countries unitary constitutional regimes and free market economies are predominant. In contrast, in the politics of CIS countries informal clan relations are prevalent. It is true that since the end of the 1990s we have seen several examples of successful party building even in the CIS. However, these successful parties, such as Unified Russia and the United Social Democratic Party of Ukraine, have been merely an official facade of clan relations.3 In contrast to the unitary state building in the Western post-communist countries, in CIS countries national-subnational political relations have been extremely deconcentrated, although the constitutions of most of these countries, except for Russia, declare that they have chosen a unitary path of state building. In these countries a patrimonial capitalism, advantageous not only to domestic enterprises but also to the population in general, took shape. The purpose of this article is to examine the Belarusian political regime under President Aleksandr Lukashenka as a populist one, which is uncommon for a CIS country. In order to understand this peculiarity, it is insufficient to compare Belarusian politics with the politics of other CIS countries. It can only be understood in the context of polarisation of post-communist political and economic regimes. Table 1 lists nine criteria distinguishing the two types of post-communist regime. Criterion 1: constitutional definition. While Western post-communist countries adopted either parliamentary or, at best, weak presidential systems, superpresidentialism has become the norm for CIS countries, with the exception of Moldova. These superpresidencies are the successors of the former central committees of communist parties and are functioning as a guarantee for personalised distribution of resources and assets. It is true that most CIS countries adopted semi-presidential, not pure presidential, systems. Under semi-presidential systems the president appoints the