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Vladimir Makei
Vladimir Vladimirovich Makei (; ; 5 August 1958 – 26 November 2022) was a Belarusian politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus from 2012 until his death in 2022. Early life and education Vladimir Makei was born on 5 August 1958 in Grodno Region, Byelorussian SSR. He graduated from the Minsk State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages in 1980. He served in the Armed Forces of the USSR and in the Armed Forces of Belarus after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He retired in 1993 as a colonel. Career Makei served in the ministry as secretary of several departments: Information and Humanitarian Cooperation, Analysis and Forecast, Office of the Minister and State Protocol Service. From 1996 to 1999 he worked in the Belarusian embassy in Paris as a counselor. From 2008 to 2012 he was President Alexander Lukashenko's Chief of Staff. Since 20 August 2012 he had been Minister of Foreign Affairs. In January 2011, Makei was blacklisted by the European Unio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ministry Of Foreign Affairs (Belarus)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus (, BGN/PCGN: ''Ministerstva zamiežnykh spraú Respubliki Bielarus’''; , BGN/PCGN: ''Ministerstvo inostrannyh del Respubliki Belarus’'') is the Belarusian government ministry which oversees the foreign relations of Belarus. The current Minister of Foreign Affairs is Maxim Ryzhenkov, since June 2024. Anatoly Glaz, a diplomat and spokesperson of the Ministry, has voiced criticism of international sanctions against the Lukashenko regime and justified bans on foreign journalists from working in Belarus. History Historical lineage In December 1920, the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs was established by resolution of the Second Congress of Soviets of Belarus. With the 1922 formation of the USSR, the functions of representing the Soviet republics in the international arena passed into the national jurisdiction. On 1 February 1944, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a law on giving the Union Republics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armed Forces Of Belarus
The Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus are the military forces of Belarus. It consists of the Ground Forces and the Air Force and Air Defence Forces, all under the command of the Ministry of Defence. As a landlocked country, Belarus has no navy, however the Belarusian military does have control over some small Soviet inherited naval vessels in its rivers and lakes. In 2017, IISS estimated that personnel in the armed forces numbered 49,000, and nearly 350,000 reserves. Most soldiers are conscripts serving for a period of 18 months, although there is an alternative service option. The Belarusian military still holds many Soviet military laws and holds high numbers of reserve personnels as a high priority. Belarus conducted military reforms in the early 2000s which reshaped its armed forces as a relatively effective force for a small state in somewhat difficult economic conditions. Since the 2010s the Belarusian military has been more closely integrated with the Russian A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belarus Free Theatre
The Belarus Free Theatre ( Belarusian: Свабодны тэатр, ''Svabodny teatr'') is a Belarusian underground theatre group. Following the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, the BFT no longer has any presence in Belarus, with the remaining members leaving in October 2020 to join artistic directors Khalezin and Koliada (living in exile since 2011) in London. , under the current political system in Belarus the Belarus Free Theatre has no official registration, no premises, nor any other facilities. When the theater was still in Belarus, rehearsals and performances (always free of charge for the public) were normally held secretly in small private apartments, which, due to security and the risk of persecution, had to be changed constantly. On several occasions, performances were given in street cafes and in the countryside, in the woods. Staff members have been repeatedly harassed by the authorities. The stage director and other people were sacked from their jobs at state-run th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikalai Khalezin
Mikalai Mikalayevič Khalezin (; ; born 30 March 1964, Minsk, Belarusian SSR, USSR) is a Belarusian-British playwright and journalist, co-founder and art-director of the underground Belarus Free Theatre, dissident and a longtime critic of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. Biography Khalezin was born in Minsk in 1964. His father was a singer in the Belarusian State Philharmonic. In 1984, he entered Institute for National Economy in Minsk but quit after 2.5 or 3 years. In 1987–1991, he worked as a scenographer in the Alternative theatre in Minsk. In 1990, he created "Vita Nova" gallery of contemporary art. In 1994–2000, he worked in 3 non-government newspapers which were later forcibly closed for political reasons. For his activities he was detained 4 times and imprisoned once. In 2005, Khalezin and his wife Natalia Koliada founded deliberately underground Belarus Free Theatre, and soon a stage director Uladzimir Shcherban joined them. In 2007, the whole troupe with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meduza
''Meduza'' (Russian: Медуза, named after the Greek goddess Medusa) is a Russian- and English-language independent news website, headquartered in Riga, Latvia. It was founded in 2014 by a group of former employees of the then-independent '' Lenta.ru'' news website. Free mobile applications for iOS, Windows Phone, and Android became the basis of the media. A semi-official motto of the portal is "Make the Kremlin sad". History In 2014, Galina Timchenko was fired from her job as chief editor at ''Lenta.ru'' by oligarch Alexander Mamut, a supporter of Vladimir Putin, after she had interviewed Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh. She launched the new webpage ''Meduza'' on 25 October 2014. Several former journalists of ''Lenta.ru'' joined the new online site. Timchenko told ''Forbes'' that the decision to base ''Meduza'' in Latvia was made since "right now, establishing an independent Russian language publishing house in Latvia is possible, while in Russia it is not". Mor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bell Pottinger
BPP Communications Ltd., which did business as Bell Pottinger Private, was a British multinational public relations, reputation management and marketing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. On 12 September 2017 it went into administration (bankruptcy) as a consequence of a scandal caused by its activities in South Africa. Bell Pottinger offered services such as lobbying, speech writing, reputation management, and search engine optimisation to clients including companies, governments and rich individuals. It was the largest UK-based public relations consultancy measured by 2010 fee income. Lord Bell, who advised Margaret Thatcher on media matters, was a co-founder of Bell Pottinger, which, until July 2012, was a wholly owned subsidiary of Chime Communications plc. In June 2012, Lord Bell and Bell Pottinger CEO James Henderson completed a £19.6 million management buyout from Chime, with Chime retaining a 25% stake in the business. The firm was described as havi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Front Line Defenders
Front Line Defenders, or The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, is an Irish-based human rights organisation founded in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland in 2001 to protect those who work non-violently to uphold the human rights of others as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. History The organisation was founded by Mary Lawlor (human rights advocate), Mary Lawlor, former director of the Irish Section of Amnesty International with a US$3 million donation from businessman and philanthropist Denis O'Brien. Front Line Defenders has Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and has Observer Status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. In 2006 Front Line Defenders established a European Union office in Brussels. Front Line Defenders received the King Baudouin International Development Prize in 2007 and the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 2018. On 3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Picketing
Picketing is a form of protest in which people (called pickets or picketers) congregate outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place. Often, this is done in an attempt to dissuade others from going in (" crossing the picket line"), but it can also be done to draw public attention to a cause. Picketers normally endeavor to be non-violent. It can have a number of aims but is generally to put pressure on the party targeted to meet particular demands or cease operations. This pressure is achieved by harming the business through loss of customers and negative publicity, or by discouraging or preventing workers or customers from entering the site and thereby preventing the business from operating normally. Picketing is a common tactic used by trade unions during strikes, who will try to prevent dissident members of the union, members of other unions and non-unionised workers from working. Those who cross the picket line and work despite the strike are known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New Times (magazine)
''The New Times'' (, tr. ''Novoe Vremya'') is a Russian language magazine in Russia. The magazine was founded in 1943. The magazine is a liberal, independent Russian weekly news magazine, publishing for Russia and Armenia. (During the Soviet times it was a multi-language political magazine which followed the official party line.) Its chief editor is Russian investigative journalist, political scientist, writer and radio host Yevgenia Albats. The magazine contains articles on politics, economics, social life and journalist investigations. Columnists provide the readers with their opinions regarding recent news and events. History In 2017 the magazine ceased its print publication and became an online-only publication. After an interview of Yevgenia Albats with opposition politician Alexei Navalny, aired on Echo of Moscow, ''The New Times'' faced a 22 million ruble fine in October 2018. The fine amount (almost $370,000) was crowd-funded in four days. On 28 February 2022, Ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2010 Belarusian Protests
The 2010 Belarusian protests were mass protest actions in Belarus against the results of the 2010 Belarusian presidential election, which took place on December 19, 2010 and were brutally dispersed. Between 10,000 and 60,000 people took part in the protest on October Square and Independence Square in Minsk. It was announced that a people's movement for free elections would be created without Lukashenka. Some participants tried to break into the Government House. Clashes with riot police took place. As a result, dozens of people were detained and beaten, including presidential candidates Khaklyaeu, Sannikov, Kastusyou, Statkevich, and Rymasheuski. Background Mass political actions and protests have been almost banned since Alexander Lukashenko took power in the 1994 Belarusian presidential election. In 1996 and 1997, a wave of popular demonstrations and massive strikes took place led by opposition members as a continuation of the hunger strikes and unrest in 1995 after the Belaru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2010 Belarusian Presidential Election
Presidential elections were held in Belarus on 19 December 2010. The elections had originally been planned for the beginning of 2011. However, the final date was set during an extraordinary session of the National Assembly on 14 September 2010. Of the ten candidates, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner by the Central Election Commission with 80% of the vote. Andrei Sannikov received the second-highest percentage. After a protest was violently suppressed by riot police the night after the elections, hundreds of protesters and seven presidential candidates were arrested by the KGB, including runner-up Sannikov. Western countries decried the election as a farce and an egregious affront to democracy and human rights. The United States and the European Union called for the release of all imprisoned candidates, but took no further action except a travel ban on Lukashenko. By contrast, countries such as Syria, China, Vietnam, and Russia congratulated the re- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
