When: 26 February 2026 18:00-19:30 CET
Where: Dialogbüro Vienna, Eßlinggasse 9/6, 1010 Vienna, Austria (only offline)
Language: English
Admission: free, please, register via the link
The 2020 mass pro-democracy protests in Belarus and the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine have fundamentally altered Belarus's geopolitical status. This shift rapidly accelerated its integration into Russia’s orbit and involved it in war affairs, while simultaneously drawing increased attention from global powers like China and intensifying its isolation from Europe and the West. This discussion will move beyond the internal political crisis to analyze how these external pressures — war, dependency, and new global alignments — are shaping the nation's future and defining the strategies of the domestic and international actors.
Where: Dialogbüro Vienna, Eßlinggasse 9/6, 1010 Vienna, Austria (only offline)
Language: English
Admission: free, please, register via the link
The 2020 mass pro-democracy protests in Belarus and the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine have fundamentally altered Belarus's geopolitical status. This shift rapidly accelerated its integration into Russia’s orbit and involved it in war affairs, while simultaneously drawing increased attention from global powers like China and intensifying its isolation from Europe and the West. This discussion will move beyond the internal political crisis to analyze how these external pressures — war, dependency, and new global alignments — are shaping the nation's future and defining the strategies of the domestic and international actors.
This discussion will explore the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Belarus, analyzing both internal and foreign policy implications while highlighting the geopolitical and regional context. In addition, the panel will address Belarus-Ukraine relations in times of war, the dynamics of EU-Belarus relations, the growing influence of China and other global actors, and assess the current prospects for ‘regime change’.
The discussion will be held alongside the presentation of the recently published Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Belarus. The book provides a thorough overview of the country's history, politics, and international relations, raising several key questions. These include whether the regime should be re-classified as (neo)totalitarian; what opportunities exist for civil society under current circumstances; the impact of sanctions and instrumentalization of issues like migration; the role of regional security dynamics and war in regime survival; and possible future scenarios for 2026. The authors will draw on their chapters' findings to shed light on these points.
WELCOMING REMARKS:
Dr. Hannes Swoboda, President of the International Institute for Peace (IP)
MODERATOR:
SPEAKERS:
CONTACT OF THE ORGANIZERS:
Dialogbüro Vienna:
International Institute for Peace:
Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe:
WELCOMING REMARKS:
Dr. Hannes Swoboda, President of the International Institute for Peace (IP)
MODERATOR:
- Malwina Talik, Research Associate and Head of Digital Communication, Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe
SPEAKERS:
- Dr. Aliaksei Kazharski, associate professor at Charles University in Prague; Editor of the Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Belarus
- Dr. Sofie Bedford, Associate Professor in Political Science and researcher at IRES Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Uppsala University and associate researcher, Research Center for the History of Transformation (RECET), University of Vienna.
- Dr. Yevhen Mahda, Ukrainian political analyst and the Executive Director of the Institute of World Policy; professor at the National University "Kyiv Aviation Institute"
- Dr. Maria Lindin, Uppsala University
CONTACT OF THE ORGANIZERS:
Dialogbüro Vienna:
- Viktoriya Andrukovich, Coordinator Vika.Andrukovich@dialogbuero-vienna.at
- Aigul Davletshina, Press and Communications press@dialogbuero-vienna.at, +49 1577 1343849
International Institute for Peace:
- Marylia Hushcha, Researcher m.hushcha@iip.at
Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe:
- Malwina Talik, Research Associate and Head of Digital Communication m.talik@idm.at
