During the latest months, the Ukrainian events have been influencing directly the situation in Belarus. It is possible to say that Belarus is watching Ukraine narrowly. “Revolution”, “mutiny”, “coup d’état” — whatever it may be called — it cannot leave Belarusans untouched.

The Centre for European Transformation has prepared a analytical report of the Civil society program monitoring of Belarusan civil society in the period from July to December 2013.

Change in Belarus will only become possible with the full participation of the civil society in national decision-making. But getting to this point is not an easy task. It requires civil society organisations to consolidate and become a respectable counterpart to the national authorities and external actors.

The whole system that should ensure a functioning public opinion in Belarus is perverted, writes Aksana Shelest [PhD in sociology, Senior analyst of the Centre for European Transformation].

The Centre for European Transformation, commissioned by the Association of Environmental NGOs of Belarus “Green Alliance”, in May-July 2013 was carried out a study to assess the interaction potential of Belarusan environmental organizations in the solution of common tasks.

Both the EU and the Eastern partner governments need to communicate more openly and to improve the engagement of the public and of all stakeholders, from business to civil society, in policymaking, if they are to strengthen the effectiveness, accountability and sustainability of policy outcomes, the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (EaP CSF) indicates in its latest set of reports on implementation of the Eastern Partnership roadmap to this month’s Vilnius Summit.

An old Belarusan joke suggests a simple way of improving one’s life. If you feel unhappy, just allow a goat in your house, live with it for some time, and then take the goat away. In principle, nothing changes — but you feel real relief and happiness! This is exactly the way the foreign policy of Belarus operates.

The Centre for European Transformation has prepared a analytical report of the Civil society program monitoring of Belarusan civil society in the period from January to June 2013.

The Centre for European Transformation prepared a working document analyzing the role and place of the Belarusan civil society in the international donor assistance to Belarus, in the first place the European Union and its member countries.

This article was first published in the electronic newsletter Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) — Belarus Info Letter The Bell, # 6 (36), 2013.