In the last few months Belarus has increasingly gained media attention. Belarusian citizens have taken to the streets to demonstrate for free and fair elections. When it became clear on Election Day, August 9th, that this hope proved to be false, the protest movement took on a size unusual for the country including all groups of society.

The political developments in the post-soviet country led to the revival of the civil society and the emergence of new non-governmental organizations, such as the Coordination council of the opposition. However, the government of President Lukashenko tries to dismantle the protest movement with all possible means. It does not hesitate to use violence and torture against the protesters and imprison its opponents. Accordingly, many activists are forced to flee the country and continue their political work from abroad. Nevertheless, the protests continue.

Ever since the protests started, there has been a debate within political and academic circles on how the democratic aspirations of the Belarusian citizens can be supported from outside. In cooperation with the Aktionsbündnis Belarus, the German Association for East European Studies (DGO) and its youth organisation Junge DGO would like to offer a platform to different voices from both German and Belarusian civil society and academia to initiate further initiatives in support of Belarusian activists. We will organize a series of events intended to facilitate network building among individuals, organizations and institutions that dedicate their political, academic and activist work to support the Belarusians.

The kick-off event “Networking Belarus – possibilities of political, civil and academic cooperation” will take place on December 8th on Zoom with the aim to discuss the prospects of EU-Belarus civil and academic cooperation, primarily in regards to the transnational empowerment and mobilization of young activists.

Agenda:

1. Opening remarks: Timm Beichelt (European University Viadrina) and Rebekka Pflug (Junge DGO Berlin/Brandenburg)
2. Impulse: Félix Krawatzek (Centre for East European Studies and International Studies (ZOiS)) on the current scientific research on youth movements in Belarus against the background of the intergenerational dynamics of the protests.
3. Comments and further remarks: Johanna Hiebl (Aktionsbündnis Belarus), t.b.a. (Belarusian activist)
4. Discussion: Moderation: Timm Beichelt (European University Viadrina)

If you are interested, please register at: jungedgo-berlin-brandenburg@dgo-online.org