Belarus
A web of rivalries: The Extinction of Irena Rey, by Jennifer Croft, reviewed
Eight translators gather to work on a novel written by their heroine, Irena Rey. But when she goes missing in a nearby forest, relations between them begin to fray
Exiled Belarusian opposition calls for army to rise against Moscow
With Vladimir Putin facing armed insurrection from Prigozhin’s Wagner Group, the exiled opposition in Belarus has called for its military…
Europe’s last dictator: Lukashenko’s fate depends on Ukraine
The fate of Lukashenko depends on Ukraine
How the EU hardened its heart towards refugees
‘They wanted me to fight, and I knew I had toleave, or die.’ My translator, a former English teacher from…
Putin's plan for Ukraine
Vladimir Putin’s message was as clear — and familiar — as his method. The Kremlin has begun another major build-up of troops…
France is using migrants just like Belarus
It was hard not to laugh, coldly, at the statement from western members of the UN Security Council that condemned…
Lukashenko and Putin are exploiting Europe's migration muddle
At the border of Belarus and Poland, camps of migrants wait for a chance to cross the border into the…
How Turkey is fuelling the Belarus-Poland migrant crisis
In the cold, damp forest lining the border between Poland and Belarus, thousands of refugees flown over from the Middle…
Poland’s Belarusian border conflict is becoming violent
The EU’s conflict with Belarus is heating up. The simmering migrant crisis on the Polish border with Belarus exploded into…
How will Europe respond to a wave of Afghan refugees?
On Tuesday, Franek Sterczewski made a break for the border. Wearing a long trench coat and carrying a blue plastic…
Fortress Europe is dreading the Afghan migrant crisis
Fortress Europe is pulling up the drawbridge. The takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban is likely to being about a…
Belarusians in exile aren't safe from the iron grip of Lukashenko
This week has laid bare the terrifying situation faced by Belarusians in their home country and abroad. From Tokyo’s Olympic…
Lukashenko’s migrant warfare against the EU
When you have already forced a plane down with spurious claims of a bomb threat, just to arrest one dissident…
Why Russia and China are competing to woo Belarus
Belarus’s president Alexander Lukashenko has been roundly condemned following the arrest of Roman Protasevich, but he still has one ally. Lukashenko…
For journalists like Protasevich, free speech is a matter of life and death
Last August I wrote a column in The Spectator’s US edition urging Donald Trump to take a leaf out of…
My plan for Belarus
A terrible thing, to be torn. Last Sunday was International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, a very painful condition affecting…
Why sanctions against Putin and his allies don’t work
Sanctions against Putin and his allies don’t work
The Belarus hijacking reveals the West's complacency
On Sunday evening an act of appalling state kidnapping took place over the skies of Europe. Four alleged KGB officers…
Why Lukashenko keeps getting away with it
The diversion of a Ryanair flight bound for Lithuania from Athens and the arrest of passenger Roman Protasevich – an…
What does Belarus's opposition leader want?
There is an assumption that those fighting tyranny must instead want Western-style democracy, that the arc of history bends towards…
Our Belarusian blind spot
I’d always rather liked the Finns, until I came across the conductor Dalia Stasevska. When I asked my mother what…
Make America Normal Again
To win in November, Trump should seek inspiration from President Alexander Lukashenko, the 65-year-old autocrat who has ruled Belarus since…
Portrait of the week: Employment falls, exam failures and a roundabout rigmarole
Home In fine weather with calm seas, 565 migrants in four days crossed the Channel in small craft. French officials…
Is this the end for Europe’s last dictator?
Could this be the end for Europe’s last dictator?
Theatre and transgression in Europe’s last dictatorship
Juan Holzmann goes underground in Minsk with the Belarus Free Theatre
