Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Belarus

Belarusian Opposition To Mark Sovereignty Day

(RFE/RL)

July 26, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Opposition activists in Belarus are due to mark Sovereignty Day on July 27, RFE/RL's Belarusian Service reports.

TEXT SIZE - +

July 26, 2007

The date marks Belarus' 1990 declaration of sovereignty from the Soviet Union.

Belarusian authorities do not recognize the holiday and have denied permission for a concert to mark the day.

Opposition figures instead plan to meet at a church across from the government building in central Minsk with members of the Belarusian parliament that declared sovereignty in 1990.

Authorities have detained 15 opposition figures in Minsk in the run-up to the day.

A Belarusian court sentenced two opposition leaders to 15 days in jail on July 24 for distributing illegal literature about a future opposition meeting.

Politics In Belarus

Demonstrators in Minsk on March 25 (RFE/RL)

WHAT HAPPENED? Belarus scholar Vitali Silitski and RFE/RL Belarus analyst Jan Maksymiuk took a look a how Belarus has changed since mass demonstrations in Minsk in March 2006 failed to produce meaningful change in that country.

LISTEN

Listen to the entire briefing (about 70 minutes):
Real Audio Windows Media

Has Regime Adopted New Tactics Toward Opposition?

Lukashenka Is Firmly In His Saddle, Despite A Bumpier Road

Why Can't Belarus's Opposition Just Get Along?

For weekly news and analysis on Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Belarus, Ukraine, And Moldova Report."

A vendor in the central Bosnian town of Zenica sells heart-shaped cushions with proclamations of love for 1 euro each.

Love It (Or Hate It), It's Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, the Western holiday celebrating love, has become a global phenomenon over the past two decades. The fall of communism and the emergence of the Internet have helped February 14 become something of an unofficial international day of romance. However, not all the passions the holiday stirs are related to love. While some countries have openly embraced the holiday, others are attempting to ban it or replace it with local customs. More

'Police Detain Stuffed Animals' In Minsk Toy Protest

Belarusian youth activists say police have "detained" some stuffed animals used in an antigovernment protest in Minsk, in an echo of similar recent protests in Russia. More

There are frequent reports in the Bulgarian and Ukrainian media about Romanian “pirates” robbing passing transport ships on the Danube. (file photo)

Reports Of 'Pirates Of The Danube' Get The Old Heave-Ho

An attack last month on a Ukrainian barge on the Romanian sector of the Danube River has caused a diplomatic tussle between Bucharest and Kyiv, sparking media reports of possible acts of piracy on Europe's second-largest river. But do “Danube pirates” actually exist? More