Four-way talks in Berlin: the weight of promisses

            The one and half years ago four-way talks were focused on armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine only. Yesterday the Syrian issue was added to a meeting of the heads of Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia. Apparently, the meeting was more a formal way of showing that West is interested in regulate the conflict though dialog in a peaceful way. Putin agrees on certain things, however the question is would these agreements be respected? Putin used to agree and sign documents on e.g. ceasefire anf the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine but keep destabilizing the situation in Ukraine and bombing Syrian city Allepo targeting kindergartens and hospitals. What is the cost of the word when Kremlin talks?

Eastern Ukraine: "Motorola" was killed

               One of the leaders of self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic Arsen Pavlov, nickname „Motorola”, was killed by an explosion in the elevator. He was an ex-Russian soldier who came to Eastern Ukraine to support its occupation by Russians. “Motorola” was known by his cruelty: he was torturing and killing captives. Was his death a demonstrative one? The colleagues of “Motorola” will state with foam at the mouth that it was a deed of the President of Ukraine, special agency etc. If it is so, it means the Ukrainian forces are much more skilled perfuming such mission. However, Russian forces are the part of the system where there should be only one leader and there is no place for any other. “What nourishes me destroys me”.

Russia Today in UK: violation of freedom of speech or stopping propaganda?

                 How fast will a tool of propaganda start demanding the “freedom of speech”? Today all UK accounts of the biggest broadcaster of pro-Kremlin propaganda Russia Today (RT) have been frozen. Was it an attempt of the UK banks to stop dealing with such ambiguous partner? Or has the UK government finally decided to bring the spread of misleading information to the end? Russian government invests more than half a billion USD only for the RT. It is broadcasting all over the world from Moscow and Washington studios in English, Arabic, Spanish, German, French and Russian. It is very important to not mix the propaganda with independent media or „journalistic second opinion”.

Belarus: homo sovieticus mindset still wins

              While Belarus tries its best to improve its cooperation with West - what is a very rational step, subconsciously it is still on the other side of iron curtain. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, stated that Belarus would like to have good neighbourhood relations with its partners from West like the EU and other geopolitical enemies like US and China. The Minister probably meant “players” but the homo sovieticus mindset did not want to give up so easily. In the psychoanalysis it is called a Freudian slip, but how is it called in the politics?

Georgia: between Europe and Russia

                The ruling party Georgian Dream has proven they were still popular (48%) among the nation after the parliamentary elections on October 9. The opposition - the United National Movement (UNM), took about 27%. Earlier the founder of UNM and the former President of Georgia and, M. Saakashvili, stated that if he was in Georgia, the party would win. He added, no mater what would be an outcome of the elections, he would not leave his post in Ukraine. There is also a big possibility that the populist pro-Russian party, Alliance of Patriots, will also enter the parliament. Preliminary report of the OSCE election observation mission to Georgia evaluated election positively. Will the new parliament bring Georgia closer to the EU and NATO?

Belarus in focus: event at the Lew Kopelew Forum

            Yesterday I had an amazing opportunity to speak about the situation in Belarus at the Lew Kopelew Forum in Cologne, Germany. Besides such interesting topics as a recent shift in the Belarusian foreign policy, I spoke about the role of elections (Presidential and Parliamentary) in the authoritarian regime. The position of the civil society in Belarus, Russian influence, Belarusization were hot topics for discussion. I was so grateful to the public for very interesting, at the same time challenging questions and comments! There was not enough time to cover all aspects of the situation in Belarus and I am looking forward to receiving more invitations.