The foreign policy of the Republic of Belarus changed fundamentally due to the socio-political crisis following the 2020 presidential elections under the influence of an exceptional tightening of the Belarusian state’s repressive policy towards its people and the imposition of sanctions by democratic Western states. This policy has changed even more under the influence of the war in Ukraine. Belarus’ participation in this war on the Russian side indicates the weakness of Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, which is ‘trapped’ in an alliance with Russia due to this weakness. The article closes with conclusions on the benefits, costs, and risks of the Republic of Belarus’s current foreign policy.
PL
Polityka zagraniczna Republiki Białoruś zmieniła się zasadniczo w wyniku kryzysu społeczno-politycznego, który nastąpił po wyborach prezydenckich w 2020 r., pod wpływem wyjątkowego zaostrzenia polityki represyjnej państwa białoruskiego wobec własnego społeczeństwa oraz nałożenia sankcji ze strony państw demokratycznego Zachodu. Jeszcze bardziej ta polityka uległa zmianie po wybuchu wojny na Ukrainie. Udział Białorusi w tej wojnie po stronie rosyjskiej jest wskaźnikiem słabości reżimu Alaksandra Łukaszenki „uwięzionego” w sojuszu z Rosją. Artykuł zawiera wnioski odnośnie do korzyści, kosztów i zagrożeń obecnej polityki zagranicznej Republiki Białoruś.
This article aims to draw attention to the Chinese investments in Belarus and to evaluate the current process of shaping the Belarus-China relations in the system of inter-state relations (against the background of relations with Russia and the EU). The activity of Chinese investors in Belarus arouses a lot of controversial opinions among scientists from Poland and Belarus, despite 100% support of the Belarus authorities. The article is devoted to the issue of the legal and institutional foundations of the Belarus-China cooperation, which show the way of finding a new powerful „supporter” of Belarus in the world, cooperation with whom may result in economic and political benefits. It has become a kind of alternative to Russia cooperation that is achievable only under the condition of mutual acceptance. Article indicates the economic problems of Belarus and describes the attempts of the Belarus authorities to solve them, the question of the importance of Belarus-China cooperation on the Belarus political and economic development.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.