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Belarus
From Debatepedia
Belarus (official name - The Republic of Belarus) is the most beautiful country in the world. It is situated in the center of Europe. Belarus shares common frontier with Poland, the Baltic States, Russia and Ukraine. The territory of Belarus is 207, 600 sq. km., population - 9,685,768 (July 2008 est.) and 70% of them lives in cities. Population below national poverty line constitutes 27.1%. Life expectancy is 68.5 years. GNI per capita is US$1,590. GDP is US$17.45 bln. GDP Growth is 6.8% (2003 data). The population of Minsk city, the capital of Belarus is about one fifth of the country population. In accordance with the political division Belarus consists of six regions (oblast). The state languages are Belarusian and Russian. Belarus has proclaimed its independence on July 27, 1990 and became completely independent in 1991 after the USSR has collapsed.
Culture/religion
The Belarusian people have always been notable for their ingenuous and original culture whose roots can be traced back to most remote pre-Christian, pagan epoch. In the beginning, our ancestors, just like all the East-Slavonic tribes were pagans. This kind of religious conscience had been in existence for a long time and left an important vestige in culture. The Christian religion was reaching our land from the end of the 10th century. First the rites were Byzantine (Eastern), somewhat later they changed to Latin (Western), both of them influencing the spiritual development of our land. Since then Belarusian art, architecture and litrature developed according to Christian canons. The most favorable conditions for the development of Belarusian culture were in the period of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania(13th - 16th century). The Old Belarusian language was the official language of that state. However, after the unit in 1569 of The Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the Polish Kingdom Belarusian culture fell under the strong influence of Polish culture. And after Russian Empire annexed Belarus in the end of the 18th century strong russification politics forced Belarusian to adopt their culture to Russia. After the formation of the USSR only few years were favorable to our culture. In 1930s strong opression over national cultures took place, and only after becoming independent in 1991 could Belarus start restoring its national originality. Yet there are some problems in conserving the unique Belarusian culture.
Government
The Republic of Belarus is a unitary, democratic, social state based on the rule of law. The Constitution in force of the Republic of Belarus was adopted in 1994, with the subsequent amendments and additions adopted at the national referenda on November 24, 1996, and October 17, 2006. The President of the Republic of Belarus is the Head of State . Now the Head of the statePresident Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994). The Parliament - the National Assembly is a representative and legislative body of the Republic of Belarus. The Parliament consists of two chambers - the House of Representatives (110 deputies) and the Council of the Republic (64 members). The House of Representatives has the power to appoint the prime minister, make constitutional amendments, call for a vote of confidence on the prime minister, and make suggestions on foreign and domestic policy. The Council of the Republic has the power to select various government officials, conduct an impeachment trial of the president, and accept or reject the bills passed by the House of Representatives. Each chamber has the ability to veto any law passed by local officials if it is contrary to the Constitution of Belarus. Executive power in the Republic of Belarus is exercised by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus headed by the Prime Minister. The members of this council need not be members of the legislature and are appointed by the president. Prime Minister currently is Sergey SIDORSKIY (since 19 December 2003); First Deputy Prime Minister is Vladimir SEMASHKO (since December 2003) State power in the Republic of Belarus is exercised on the principle of division of powers between the legislature, executive and judiciary. State bodies within the confines of their powers, are independent: they co-operate among themselves acting on the principle of checks and balances. Supervision of the constitutionality of enforceable enactments of the state is exercised by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus. In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus the judicial power in the Republic of Belarus belongs to courts.
Membership in multinational organizations
BSEC (observer), CEI, CIS, CSTO, EAEC, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer).
Controversial Issues
Domestic Issues
- The plan-based approach creates, on one hand, stability in the society and guarantees for employees of state enterprises. On the other hand, this approach creates the obstacles for private business development as it prevents individual initiative.
- Strong presidential power is one of the reasons for evolutionary way of development but at the same time prevents the pluralism of opinions, suppresses opposing points of view and violates some of the basic human rights.
- Absence of natural resources, especially energy resources (gaz, oil, etc.) makes Belarus find the solutions for this problem that lie in technological development and usage of new technologies in different spheres of
International Issues
- The president of Belarus wants to develop a closer relationship with Russia. The framework for the Union of Russia and Belarus was set out in the Treaty On the Formation of a Community of Russia and Belarus (1996), the Treaty on Russia-Belarus Union, the Union Charter (1997), and the Treaty of the Formation of a Union State (1999). The integration treaties contained commitments to monetary union, equal rights, single citizenship, and a common defence and foreign policy.
- Belarus co-operates successfully with most of the former USSR republics within the framework of the CIS. The CIS is headquartered in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.
- Belarus-European Union relations. Following the recognition of Belarus as an independent state in December 1991 by the European Community, EC/EU-Belarus relations initially experienced a steady progress. The signature of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) in 1995 signaled a commitment to political, economic and trade cooperation. Some assistance was provided to Belarus within the framework of the TACIS programme and also through various aid programs and loans. However, progress in EU-Belarus relations stalled in 1996 after serious setbacks to the development of democracy, and the Drazdy conflict. The EU did not recognize the 1996 constitution, which replaced the 1994 constitution. The Council of the European Union decided against Belarus in 1997: The PCA was not concluded, nor was its trade-related part; Belarusian membership in the Council of Europe was not supported; bilateral relations at the ministerial level were suspended and EU technical assistance programs were frozen. Acknowledging the lack of progress in relation to bilateral relations and the internal situation following the position adopted in 1997, the EU adopted a step-by-step approach in 1999, whereby sanctions would be gradually lifted upon fulfillment of the four benchmarks set by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. In 2000, some moderately positive developments toward the implementation of recommendations made by the OSCE AMG were observed but were not sufficient in the realm of access to fair and free elections.
