It was for the first time that the discussion about Belarusan culture in Berlin happened in German and Belarusan languages — without intervention of Russian and English languages.

On November 2 in Berlin a round table “Belarus trotz(t) Lukashenko: way to transformation” took place. The German word “trotz(t)” is translated as “Belarus despite Lukashenko” or “Belarus without Lukashenko”, thus making a pun.

His impressions from the conference with the EuroBelarus Information Service shared Uladzimir Matskevich, the head of the Board of the International Consortium “EuroBelarus”.

— The trip was organized by the foundation of Henrich Böll Stiftung that doesn’t have Belarusan representative office but is interested in Belarusan problems. At the meeting Belarusan colleagues invited people, who demonstrate interest to Belarus. There are not so many of such people in Berlin; however, there are quite attentive experts, who analyze situation in Belarus and are attentive to the development of the situation. After all, both at the governmental level and among expert community, analysts, and scientists there are people, who study Belarus.

After the elections we were supposed to discuss results and prospects that are opening to Belarus. However, we offered a different topic for discussion — cultural processes and cultural relations between Belarus and Europe, in particular — Germany.

Apart from me, Belarus was represented by Ihar Babkou, philosopher, writer, poet, Jerzy Giedroyc prize-winner; Michal Amniepadystau, a famous designer and producer. Each of them presented their own vision of the situation in Belarusan culture and how it is integrating or is integrated with Europe.

I have been mostly touching upon questions of political culture and civil society. Ihar Babkou concentrated on the topics he has been working on for many years now: postcolonial research, the idea of Middle and Eastern Europe, and frontline. Michal Amniepadystau has been talking more about Belarusan tradition and its presence in modern Belarusan culture, about Belarusan identity, search for identity, and voiced his opinion on the modern state of culture in Belarus.

We didn’t manage to stay in the cultural frames and in the frames of culture, because the audience concerned was also interested in political processes and recent elections. Some members of the meeting worked as observers at the latest presidential elections in Belarus; one third of the audience made Belarusan émigré, who constantly live in Berlin.

There were also two representatives of Belarusan embassy, who, however, kept silent, didn’t ask questions and didn’t make any comments.

Maryna Rachley, a journalist, who has been working in BelaPAN for many years, studied in Germany afterwards, and now lives and works in Berlin, also took part in our discussion.

We need to note that the organizers of the meeting noted (though, I cannot personally confirm that) that this is probably one of the first events in Germany with Belarusan and German as working languages; the participants of the meeting didn’t use Russian and English as is customary at the communications of international level.

The discussion aroused big interest. Years pass, but Belarusan culture is not very famous in Germany and is not very famous in Europe. The interest to Belarusan culture has been urged on by the Nobel prize that has been awarded to the writer Svetlana Alexievich.

Apart from the round table in the Henrich Böll Stiftung, we also had several meetings with different experts on Belarus, with whom we discussed the issue of Eastern Partnership and certain thaw in Belarus-Europe relations, as well as long-term prospects of this thaw. We discussed problems of education and situation in EHU and with EHU in particular.

— Since we have started to talk about thaw in Belarus-EU relations, how are long-term prospects of a new “thaw” assessed in Berlin?

— Since we have been talking with the German experts, who have quite good understanding of Belarusan situation, there is no big enthusiasm regarding the thaw: everyone understands that the nature of the Belarusan regime didn’t change and the elections didn’t change it. That’s why the attitude towards the thaw is calm — without decadent moods, though without any special enthusiasm, too.

Since we were in Germany we couldn’t but mention the problem Europe and Germany have — in particular, the problem of migrants: we exchanged opinions about it. We heard that the Germans are concerned with the growth of Putin’s popularity in Germany and with the disinformation that is spread via the “Russian World” that touches upon not only emigrants — ethnical Germans, who were moving from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine in the 90s — but also the Germans, who are fond of Putin. Perhaps, this phenomenon is mostly spread in the eastern Germany, though its geography is quite broad and is revealed in all the cities of former Eastern and Western Germany.

— Have the meeting had introductory nature of does it have long-term prospects?

— This is not the first meeting of that kind organized by Henrich Böll Stiftung; such meetings are happening basically every year. And each year some other aspects of Belarusan life are touched upon; and other specialists from Belarus are invited. We will hope that the tradition of such meetings will continue.