Since 1994, Alexander Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule and his regime’s grip on power has strengthened continuously, at the great cost of diminishing Belarusian civil liberties. Throughout these years, Lukashenko’s foreign policy underwent several recalculations that focused on attempts to maintain societal stability, improve the country’s economic situation and, more importantly, to balance Belarusian ties with the EU and Russia. Over time, society’s calls for liberalization of the country became a huge challenge for the government. As a result, Lukashenko’s regime became increasingly oppressive and based on ruling with an iron fist. Every Belarusian presidential election was increasingly absurd and questionable, with evidence of various restrictions placed on movement, internet access, the use of fake ballots, etc. Society’s growing anger boiled over after the 2020 presidential elections.
The Crumbling Eastern European “Pearl” within the BRI Strategy: Chinese Domestic Media’s Coverage of the 2020 Belarusian Protests and Bilateral Ties
GSSC Associate Expert and Chief Policy Analyst at the Government Strategic Analysis Center (STRATA). Since 2021, he has been a PhD candidate at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University. In 2023, Boruta was a visiting fellow at National Chengchi University in Taiwan under the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Taiwan Fellowship programme. He holds an MA in International Relations from Sichuan University, China, and a BA in East Asian Studies with a focus on China from the University of Central Lancashire, United Kingdom. His research focuses on the foreign and domestic policies of China and Taiwan, as well as cross-Strait relations, with particular attention to the dynamics of China–ASEAN relations and the strategic competition between Beijing and Taipei in Central and Eastern Europe.
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