Belarus: The ambiguous neighbour of the EU? Online debate

This debate was live streamed on Facebook and YouTube and republished here as a podcast. This is the second debate organized in the framework of the project titled “Ost/Wschód: German-Polish Debates on the East”.Belarus plays a unique role in both countries’ policies towards the region and as a member of the Eastern Partnership is also a key state in EU foreign policy. Yet, the country’s extremely close ties with Russia make Belarus a unique case, decisively not interested in European integration and for many years considered “the last dictatorship of Europe”. However, recent developments have demonstrated a possible opening towards Europe as the regime is resisting integration with Russia, while the country’s response to COVID-19 was like no other country in Europe which may play a role in this year’s presidential election.Speakers:– Anna Maria Dyner, Analyst on Belarus, Polish Institute of International Affairs– Ingo Petz, German journalist, expert on BelarusThe debate was moderated by Adam Balcer, Program Director with the Jan Nowak-Jeziorański College of Eastern Europe (publisher of New Eastern Europe).The debate is co-organised by the Jan Nowak Jeziorański College of Eastern Europe and the Deutsch-Russischer Austausch e.V. (DRA) and sponsored by the Heinrich Boell Foundation’s Warsaw Office as well as the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation.