International Conference “Belarus 2020 and beyond: Path Dependency or Break with the Past?”
Political developments in Belarus before, during and after the Presidential election on August 9, 2020 were marked by the protests of unexpected scale and duration. They have brought back questions of the Belarusian regime to the agenda of European politics and academic research. 26 years of Lukashenko’s rule, hundreds of thousands of protesters, and the regime’s extremely brutal response have prompted researchers and practitioners to look back into the factors of regime stability, public mobilisation, and the effects of external pressures on and incentives for regime transformation in post-Soviet countries. Though the end result of current events in Belarus remains unclear, there is an agreement among scholars that it would be almost impossible to come back to ‘business as usual’ in relations between the authorities and Belarusian society as well as between Belarus and its external partners, especially Russia.
Seeking to enhance research and academic discussion on political developments in Belarus Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University invites scholars and researchers to the Conference on political developments after the 2020 Presidential elections in Belarus “Belarus 2020 and beyond: Path Dependency or Break with the Past?”, which will take place in Vilnius on 7-8 October, 2021. Due to the uncertainties related to COVID-19 situation – provisions are being made for a partial or complete transition to the online format if needed. The aim of the conference is to analyse the processes in Belarus in 2020-2021, which have shaken the foundations of Europe’s longest-lasting authoritarian regime.
The conference will take place in a hybrid format, thus it is possible to join sessions online or at the venue (Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vokiečių str. 10) as well as watch the live broadcast of keynote speeches on the Facebook page of IIRPS VU. Registration by filling this form is mandatory for both online and offline participants. Only persons with a valid National Certificate or EU Digital COVID Certificate will be allowed to attend the event in person. More information and the program of the conference is available here.
