Prospects for Democracy in Belarus

Published by GMF and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Prospects for Democracy in Belarus provides a systematic account of recent developments in Belarus and strategic and policy-oriented considerations on improving Western democracy assistance.
Belarus is at a crossroads in its history. Presidential elections on March 19, 2006, have been widely discredited by the local democratic opposition and the international community as neither free nor fair; the fraudulent poll sparked the largest protests in several years. Until they were violently suppressed by the Lukashenka regime, ordinary Belarusians took to the streets of Minsk to express their desire for change. The European Union and the United States have become increasingly concerned with the human and civil rights situation in the country, and they have openly indicated their commitment to a free and democratic Belarus. Yet to achieve this goal, enormous obstacles will have to be overcome. This will require a better understanding of the domestic and international factors and developments behind the situation in Belarus today, as well as better strategies and tools to support democrats in the country in their struggle for freedom and democracy.