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.

Elections in Belarus have not met OSCE requirements

                The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has deployed its election mission to Belarus on August 2 after receiving an invitation of the respective government. The Parliamentary Elections took place on September 11. On the press-conference the OSCE officials announced that despite efficiently Parliamentary election organization in Belarus, unfortunately, hardly any of previous OSCE recommendation has been fulfilled. There were several major remarks including the invisibility of campaign, ambiguity in assuring election process in appliance with OSCE standards by the constitutional and legal framework. There are restrictions on freedom of association and the media are restricted in its freedom of expression.