Organisers: Center for Security Studies (CSS) ETH Zurich, Minsk Dialogue Track-II Initiative, and Konrad Adenauer Foundation

Belarus’s reactions to regional turbulence have been the most striking, but yet the least discussed internationally. Unlike other regional actors, Belarus’s structural conditions require it to pursue a specific type of foreign policy. Combined with Minsk’s problematic legacy of relations with the West, this results in foreign policy behaviour which is often contradictory and difficult to interpret. It is telling in this respect that in recent years Belarus received increased international attention, first as the host of the Ukraine peace talks and then as a co-host of the Zapad military exercises with Russia in September 2017.

This event will look at recent trends in East European geopolitics and Belarusian foreign and security policies, as well as their implications for European security.

Speakers:

Yauheni Preiherman

Head, Minsk Dialogue Track-II Initiative

Anna Hess Sargsyan

Senior Programme Officer, Centre for Security Studies (CSS) ETH Zurich

Dzianis Melyantsou

Coordinator, Belarus’s Foreign Policy Programme, Minsk Dialogue Track-II Initiative

Moderator:

Wolfgang Sender

Country Director Belarus, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung