Panelists:
· MAGDA STUMVOLL, Research Fellow and project coordinator at the the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe; Board member at Ponto
· MARYLIA HUSHCHA, Research assistant at the IIP; Board member at Ponto
Discussant:
· BENNO ZOGG, Senior Researcher, Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich / Co-Head, Peace & Security Programme, Foraus – The Swiss Think Tank on Foreign Policy
Moderation:
· JULIUS SEIDENADER, Board member at Ponto
Content:
Belarusians have taken to the streets of their cities and towns for over six months now, demanding free and fair elections after the presidential vote in August had been blatantly rigged. The longer the political crisis drags on, the more Russia’s and the EU’s perceptions of this crisis and subsequent actions matter. The elites in Russia view the protest as coordinated by the West, whereas the EU considers it as a purely domestic issue. Russia has a high interest in Belarus, in terms of security, economics, culture etc. For the EU, stability in its neighboring country is the primary goal. The Belarusian crisis has thus gained a geopolitical dimension that will play a decisive role in its future development.
The panelists will present a recently published paper that investigates the EU’s and Russia’s attitudes and treatment of the political situation in Belarus. The presentation will be followed by comments by the invited discussant and a conversation with the audience.