ZOiS Report 6/2020 State-society relations in Belarus have been tense for many years. The presidential elections in August 2020 and the mishandling of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic have proved to be the catalyst that brought these fragile relations to a complete breakdown. Over the years, the widening gap between a new generation of an emancipated citizenry and a regime stuck in predominantly paternalistic power structures and reluctant to engage in political and economic reforms has become increasingly evident. The deteriorating economy during the last decade and the perceived decline of the country’s social welfare system have been important factors in these developments. At the same time, the regime has continued to invest in its domestic security structures to a disproportionate extent compared with neighbouring states, allowing the so-called silovye struktury (“state power structures”) to gain influence at the highest level of state governance. (…)

Die Modernisierung der Industrie, notwendige Voraussetzung für eine angemessene internationale Stellung Russlands, hat einen hohen Preis: rasch wachsende Arbeitslosigkeit. Dies ist nur durch eine Steigerung der Investitionen aufzufangen. Dazu muss aber ein günstiges Investitionsklima geschaffen werden. Dies geht nicht ohne Verhaltensänderungen der Verwaltungen und der Verlagerung von Kompetenzen in die Regionen. In einigen Regionen werden schon neue Ansätze praktiziert, die verallgemeinert werden können. (…)