Belarus at a Crossroads: Opting for Deeper Integration or Neutrality?

Welcome: Hannes Swoboda, former MEP and President of the International Institute for Peace (IIP)
Speaker: Artyom Shraibman, founder of Sense Analytics (Minsk)
Moderator: Marylia Hushcha, Research assistant at IIP

Belarus has largely been off the radar of the European Union, and the West more broadly, for almost a decade now. The interest towards Belarus was more recently sparked by the debate whether it will become another state that Russia will try to annex according to the Crimea scenario. Along the discussions about sovereignty, the idea of neutrality for Belarus has also become more prominent. Belarus’ role of a facilitator in negotiations over the war in Eastern Ukraine has given rise to the emergence of a new identity of a neutral country and a platform for dialogue in the region.
The discussion covers domestic political situation in Belarus, as well as its relations with the EU and Russia. The event took place in the premises of the International Institute for Peace in Vienna on November 4, 2019.

Neutrality?