On May 7, the Eastern Europe Studies Centre and the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University (VU IIRPS), with the support of the Research Council of Lithuania, organized an international seminar “Main Pillars of Belarusian Regime: Strengths and Weaknesses”.

The main aim of the seminar was to gather a select group of political experts from Belarus, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and the United States for an honest discussion on strengths and weaknesses of the Belarusian regime. The seminar consisted of two sessions. During the first session distinct panellists Dr. Jovita Neliupšienė, VU TSPMI lecturer, Dr. Tatsiana Chulitskaya, European Humanities University lecturer, Alaksiej Lavončyk, Media Expert and Project Manager at Transitions Online, Kristina Vaičiūnaitė, EESC Director and Jake Jones, IRI Residence Country Director, discussed internal developments in Belarus. While during the second session Dr. Kirill Koktysh, MGIMO University Associate Professor, Andis Kudors, Executive Director of the Centre for East European Policy Studies, and Andrei Yeliseyeu, analyst at the Belarusian Institute of Strategic Studies, addressed the external factors of regime stability.

The event concluded by the presentation of Anatoly Liabedzka’s book “108 Days & Nights in a KGB Dungeon” in which he described his experience as an inmate of the KGB prison and reflected upon lawlessness of the Belarusian regime.

The event was held in English. For more information, please see the seminar’s programme.