The Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) is delighted to present yet another issue of the newsletter The Bell. This time, the issue is devoted to analysing the privatisation processes and their impact on the economy and the political regime in Belarus. In the first article Economist Aliaksei Kazlou studies the impact of the privatisation on the country’s labour market. A shift towards a more liberal, private capital driven economy may result in growing unemployment in the short run, but it may also mean increased productivity in the longer run. In the second article Leonid Zaiko, economist and director of the Minsk-based analytical centre Strategy, depicts the situation from a very different angle. The author claims that privatisation will fundamentally serve as a mechanism to create new conglomerates of political power. The Bell, Issue 8 (29).

The Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) is delighted to present yet another issue of the newsletter The Bell. In this issue you will find an article about the “silent protests” and the “stop-petrol” actions held in Belarus throughout the summer. Their scale and impact are being analysed by Andrej Dynko, Editor of the newspaper Nasha Niva. In the second article, lawyer and political scientist Yuri Chausau studies the prospects of introducing proportional electoral system before the upcoming parliamentary elections. The main question that the author attempts to answer is whether such a reform would strengthen democracy in Belarus, just like the representatives of the regime try to convince. The Bell, Issue 8 (29)

The Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) is delighted to present you yet another issue of the electronic newsletter The Bell. In the first article political analyst Pavel Usov examines the state and the actions of the Belarusian systemic opposition in the wake of the current protests and civic actions in the country. The second article is devoted to analysing the imperatives behind the construction of the Astravets nuclear power plant (NPP). Hanna Siarova, researcher at the Vilnius-based Public Policy and Management Institute raises a question: is the Astravets NPP a panacea for the Belarusian energy security? The Bell, Issue 7 (28)

The Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) is delighted to present you yet another issue of the electronic newsletter The Bell. In the first article lawyer and political scientist Yuri Chavusau sheds some light on Lukashenka’s crisis strategy. The author explains the logic of “preventive” trials and harsh measures against the opposition ahead of the impending economic collapse. In the second article political analyst Elena Daneika presents some facts and comments of the crisis as seen directly from the field. The Bell, Issue 6 (27).

The Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) is delighted to present the latest issue of the electronic newsletter The Bell, published in English. In the first article, Siarhei Nikoliuk, an independent political analyst and sociologist, presents his insights into the current economic situation in Belarus. The rising social discontent with the current policy is obvious. All social indexes are in steep decline and soon might reach lowest levels ever. Without Russian energy subsidies and cheap loans, Lukashenka will have a hard time fighting social discontent and pushing the indexes upwards. In the second article, Ahnia Asanovich, political scientist, analyses the integration projects with the Russian Federation in the light of the current Belarusian economic situation. These projects bring little hope for the improvement in the Belarusian economy. Bell, Issue 5 (26).

The Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) presents a new issue of the electronic newsletter The Bell. In the current issue our readers will find two articles by the Belarusian media experts: Alexander Klaskouski and Pavel Bykouski. The experts reveal complex censorship and control mechanisms that the regime exerts upon the country’s media. Although, the internet remains an exception, the government has recently developed new and innovative tools of controlling virtual space as well. Will this lead to further suppression of the freedom of the speech in Belarus? We hope to provide an answer in this issue of Bell. Bell, Issue 4 (25)

The Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) presents a new issue of the electronic newsletter Bell. With this issue we try to distance from the presidential election agenda and focus on other topics, no less relevant for Belarus. In the current Bell our readers will find a thorough analysis of the motives, imperatives and arguments behind the establishment of the Common Economic Space of Russia and Belarus. As well as an article that analyzes the potential of informal and virtual communities to mobilize civic initiatives. Bell, Issue 3 (24)

The Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) presents a new issue of the electronic newsletter Bell. The contributors of the latest issue present the lessons that could be drawn from the Belarusian presidential elections. In the first article senior analyst at the Belarusian Institute of Strategic Studies Dzianis Meliantsou evaluates the EU reaction to the elections and subsequent suppressions of the free society. Political scientist Siarhei Nikoliuk in the second article studies the data of sociological surveys that were carried out after the elections. The author demonstrates new developments regarding the attitudes of the Belarusian society as compared to the elections in 2001 and 2006. Bell, Issue 2 (23)

The Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) presents a new issue of the electronic newsletter Bell. In the current issue the authors studies developmental scenarios of Belarus after the Presidential elections that were held on December 19, 2010. The readers will find a thorough analysis from an economical and geopolitical perspective in the first article Belarus: Way Out of the "Kremlin Trap"; by Leonid Zaiko, director of the AC Strategy. In the second article Belarus: a "Totalitarian Turn": as a Reality? Dmitry Linkov develops a different, historian's approach. According to him, history shows only one possible scenario of the regime: inevitable and steady increase of repressive apparatus and ultimately the fall. Bell, Issue 1 (22)

The Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) presents a new issue of the electronic newsletter Bell. The current issue is devoted solely for the presidential elections in Belarus. Our readers will find four articles instead of usual two. The authors study unique political environment in which the elections are taking place and how it influenced electoral strategies of both oppositional candidates and the incumbent president. Still and all, the most important question is whether the unique situation brings something new to the democracy of Belarus and countries' course of development. Bell, Issue 11 (21)