CDE News

Four people found dead on Polish border with Belarus

Polish officials said the bodies of three men, believed to be Iraqi nationals, were found on the Polish side of the Poland-Belarus border while Belarusian authorities announced an Iraqi woman was…

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Belarus leader reviews joint Russian military drills, touts $1 billion arms deals

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko reviewed on Sunday large joint military drills with Russia and said his country planned to buy more than $1 billion worth of arms…

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Russia and Belarus formally open huge war games, worrying NATO

Russia and ex-Soviet ally Belarus on Friday launched the active phase of vast military exercises involving 200,000 personnel that have alarmed Ukraine and some NATO nations. The "Zapad-2021" war games,…

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Poland condemns jailing of Belarus protest leaders

Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz on Monday condemned prison sentences imposed on Belarusian opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova and Maxim Znak. Kolesnikova and Znak were sentenced to 11 years and 10…

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UPDATED: Belarusian court jails protest leader Kolesnikova for 11 years

Maria Kolesnikova, one of the leaders of mass street protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko last year, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Monday, the state-run Belta news…

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Poland, Latvia worry over Russia’s war games on tense EU-Belarus border

Poland and Latvia expressed concern over Russia’s looming military drills held jointly on Belarus’ western border where the European Union accuses Minsk of pushing migrants over to put pressure on…

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Poland requests state of emergency on Belarus border amid migrant surge

The Polish government asked the president on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency in two regions on its border with Belarus after the Polish Border Guard said hundreds of illegal crossings…

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Russian anti-aircraft missile troops arrive to Belarus to set up training centre

MOSCOW, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Russian anti-aircraft missile troops have arrived in Belarus with a mission of establishing a training centre in the city of Grodno near the border with…

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Lithuania says will complete Belarus border fence by Sept 2022

Lithuania said on Monday it would complete a 508-km (315-mile) fence along its border with Belarus by September next year to stop migrants it says are crossing in record numbers orchestrated…

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European neighbours jointly rebuke Belarus for illegal migrant surge

WARSAW (Reuters) - The leaders of Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia came together on Saturday to condemn Belarus for allowing migrants to illegally cross its borders into the European Union. "All European Union member states have…

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Chief editor of independent Belarus news agency missing after raid

The chief editor of one of Belarus' leading independent news organisations has gone missing after police searched her home overnight, the country's reporters' association said on Wednesday, as authorities pursue…

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New wave of arrests in Belarus

Belarusian authorities have detained more than 20 people in the latest wave of arrests, continuing their sweeping crackdown on dissent a year after a disputed presidential election, human rights activists…

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Defiant Belarus leader shrugs off sanctions, says athlete was ‘manipulated’

A defiant President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday a Belarusian sprinter defected at the Olympic Games only because she had been "manipulated" by outside forces and shrugged off a coordinated barrage of new…

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UPDATED: Lukashenko strikes defiant note a year after contested election, Britain slaps sanctions on Belarus

President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday a Belarusian sprinter who defected at the Olympic Games in Tokyo had been "manipulated" by outside forces and would not have fled abroad otherwise.…

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Poland, Lithuania call for EU help with migration surge at Belarusian border

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland and Lithuania on Friday called on European institutions to help them deal with a surge in illegal migration from Belarus over their borders, as tensions between…

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Belarus sprinter heads for Austria in fresh twist to Tokyo diplomatic drama

TOKYO (Reuters) -Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya left Tokyo for Austria on Wednesday, adding another dramatic twist to a diplomatic saga in which she had sought refuge at the Polish embassy.…

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Exiled Belarus activist found hanged in Ukraine, police open murder case

A Belarusian activist living in exile in Ukraine was found hanged in a park near his home in Kyiv early on Tuesday, and Ukrainian police said they had launched a murder case. Vitaly…

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Belarus athlete will fly to Poland after refusing orders to go home

A Belarusian athlete who took refuge in the Polish embassy in Tokyo after refusing her team's orders to fly home from the Olympic Games will travel to Poland on Wednesday, a group of…

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Belarus athlete ‘safe and secure’ in Tokyo as Poland, Czech offer visas

By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Karolos Grohmann and Chang-Ran Kim TOKYO, Aug 2 (Reuters) - A Belarusian athlete who refused to board a flight after she said she was taken to the…

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Belarusian sprinter says she was taken to airport against her wishes, will not return home

TOKYO, Aug 1 (Reuters) - A Belarusian sprinter said she was taken to the airport against her wishes on Sunday to board a flight back home after she complained about…

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Belarus leader would ‘not hesitate’ to invite Russian troops if needed

Belarus would not hesitate to invite Russian troops if needed, President Alexander Lukashenko said, although he said there was no need for them now. Russia has maintained close military and…

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Belarus police raid homes and offices of journalists, rights activists

Belarusian police searched the offices and homes of journalists and human rights activists for the third successive day on Friday, extending what rights activists say is a new crackdown on…

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Belarus seeks Russia’s help in response to EU sanctions

Moscow (dpa) - Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, under pressure due to European Union sanctions, sought further support from Russia on Tuesday at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. "The dynamics are wild.…

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Belarus sees little impact on debt from EU sanctions, to rely on Russia and Asia

The Belarus finance ministry sees little impact from European Union sanctions on its ability to service its external debt obligations, it said in a statement to Reuters, adding that Russian…

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Belarus leader threatens to halt transit of EU goods via his country to east

Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, on Tuesday threatened to stop the transit of European Union goods via his country to Russia and China in retaliation for EU sanctions. The 27-nation…

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U.S. hints at further sanctions on Belarus

Washington hinted at the possibility of further economic sanctions against Belarus in a strongly worded speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday. The United States announced targeted sanctions…

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Belarus closes border with neighbouring Ukraine

Belarus' leader Alexander Lukashenko ordered the closure of the border with Ukraine, seeking to block what he called an inflow of weapons to coup-plotters detected by his security services, BelTA…

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Belarus tells EU envoy to go, withdraws migration help in sanctions row

Belarus on Monday told the European Union's representative in Minsk to return to Brussels for consultations and said it would stop helping the 27-nation bloc combat illegal migration as retaliation against…

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Belarus dictator floods EU with migrants in retaliation for sanctions

The embattled Belarusian dictator has made good on his threat to flood the European Union with migrants by sending hundreds of Iraqis on ‘package holidays’ to neighbouring Lithuania in retaliation…

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Western sanctions bordering on a ‘declaration of economic war’, says Belarus

Belarus views Western sanctions, imposed in response to Minsk's forced landing of a Ryanair plane last month to arrest a journalist on board, as a declaration of economic war, the Foreign Ministry…

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Lithuania govt readies support for companies hit by sanctions on Belarus

The Lithuanian government stands ready to provide support to its enterprises as they get hit by European sanctions on Belarus, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said on Monday. Outraged at the forced…

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EU reaches deal on Belarus economic sanctions, according to Austria, diplomats

The European Union is set to ban new loans to Belarus after reaching a deal on Friday for economic sanctions on Minsk as punishment for forcing down a flight to…

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Russia removes Belarus opposition politician Tsikhanouskaya from wanted list – RIA

Russian police have removed Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya from their wanted list at the initative of the Belarusian authorities, the RIA news agency reported on Tuesday. Tsikhanouskaya fled into exile last…

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Belarus introduces prison sentences for taking part in protests

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday signed into law prison sentences for people taking part in protests or insulting state officials, part of an unprecedented crackdown by the veteran leader…

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UPDATED: EU to ban Belarus overflights from midnight

European Union ambassadors on Friday adopted a plan to ban Belarus airlines from flying over EU territory or landing in EU airports, three diplomats said. The decision is part of…

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Opposition decries ‘hostage’ video as Belarus airs confession of detained journalist

Detained journalist Roman Protasevich appeared on Belarusian state television on Thursday, tearfully confessing to his role in anti-government protests in an interview which the opposition said was made under duress.…

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Belarusian prisoner tries to cut own throat in court hearing

A Belarusian prisoner detained in a crackdown on protests tried to cut his own throat during a court hearing on Tuesday after being told his family and neighbours faced prosecution…

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Belarusian opposition leader believes blogger tortured

Belarus's leading opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said on Monday that detained blogger Roman Protasevich had been beaten and tortured in jail. A lawyer who visited Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega said he was…

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Russia vows to defend Belarus if EU sanctions Minsk

Russia will defend Belarus and help it if the European Union imposes economic sanctions on Minsk over the grounding of a plane and arrest of a dissident blogger, the RIA…

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Death threats and arrests: Belarus opposition media struggles at home and abroad

In an elegant apartment building in central Warsaw flying a red and white flag from its first floor balcony, a symbol of the Belarusian opposition, remnants of the anti-government media…

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U.S. to re-impose sanctions on Belarus firms over plane incident

The Biden administration said on Friday it is drawing up a list of targeted sanctions against key members of the Belarusian government following the former Soviet republic's forced landing of…

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Putin offers Belarus leader support against West in Ryanair plane standoff

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday offered his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko support in his standoff with the West over his handling of the grounding of a passenger jet and the arrest of a dissident blogger. The West has accused Belarus of piracy…

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UPDATED: Ryanair says Belarus refused pilot’s request to contact airline, Lithuania trying to identify those disembarked in Minsk

Belarusian air traffic control refused a request by a Ryanair pilot to contact the airline after being told of an alleged bomb threat, leaving him with no alternative but to…

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