In the first episode of 2020, Adam and Maciek explore the current situation in Belarus. As the country is under more pressure from the Kremlin to implement greater integration with Russia, it tries to open up to the West. What’s more, presidential elections will be held later this year, putting into question the future of Belarus, its independence and what’s next for President Lukashenka.

The podcast features an interview with Hanna Liubakova – a Belarusian journalist and 2019 World Press Institute Fellow. Hanna gives her insight on the current situation and what we can expect for Belarus in 2020.

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Hanna Liubakova on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HannaLiubakova

Resources
The renaissance of Russia-Belarus relations. By: Monika Bickauskaite. New Eastern Europe 5 December 2019: https://neweasterneurope.eu/2019/12/05/the-renaissance-of-russia-belarus-relations/
Integration on Hold for Russia and Belarus. By: John Lough and Katia Gold. Chatham House 14 January 2020: https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/integration-hold-russia-and-belarus

Music featured in the podcast licensed under the Creative Commons license 3.0/4.0:
Intro: Indie Rock by Scott Holmes: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Holmes/Road_Trip_Indie_Rock/Indie_Rock_1327
Up Folk by Ketsa https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/Above_and_Below/Up_Folk_1789