Quote Originally Posted by sperk View Post
Hanna, can you buy anything to eat?
Yeah, definitely - there is plenty... See my travel blog.
Actually, basically everything that's being written about Belarus in the English speaking press is a load of tosh.
It's just not true. This is not a dictatorship or an "outpost of tyranny", "axis of evil" or anything of the sort. Nobody looks or behaves like they are oppressed or scared of the police or state or anything else. I've met several people who critisized the government, and several who praised it. I think it's unfair on the people of Belarus to belittle their political choices and to impose sanctions which no doubt impact only regular people, not the leadership anyway. The politics of Belarus is the Belarussians problem, and nobody else's.

It is not communist or even very socialist, and it's not very much like the USSR apart from some legacy stuff. It has a unique character though, which I am trying to explain in my travel blog. It's well worth a visit because of this unique character and also because it's simply a very interesting, pleasant and charming country in lots of different ways. People are great. The most annoying thing is that there is a lot of bureacracy.

Whether the democracy is up to closer scrutiny or not, I couldn't really say - there probably is merit to some of the criticism.
But frankly I think that the majority DOES support the current leadership and they have done a very good job in lots of areas, so it's not surprising. Perhaps Belarus could invite the EU to actually organise the election next time, according to the existing budget for elections.

I don't think Eastern Europeans in general, and particularly people in the ex USSR are massively hung up about "democracy" according to the Western model. I think they are more interested in a government that produces results - such as stability, prosperity and good living conditions - perhaps they are prepared to pay a small price in marginally less political freedom for that.

If the current .by leadership mess up badly enough, then the people will probably eventually kick them out. There is plenty of external support for the opposition, I just don't think there is a critical mass of people inside of Belarus supporting the opposition right now. But if the devaluation problem gets any worse, that might change. I think the people in Minsk are generally more pro West than the rest of the country.

In the building where I am staying, somebody has put up an EU sticker with the word "Belarus" inside the stars, similar to the stickers for EU member states. Someone else has then tried to erase the word Belarus from the sticker.

But yeah, everything you need is available - though NOT to the very specialised level you'd get in a big city Western Europe, and not top-end stuff. But that's nothing special for Belarus though, it's the same in lots of countries. There is no visible crime at all, couldn't be safer.... No beggars, super-clean everywhere, the majority of buildings have been recently renovated or are well maintained. People are nice, friendly and helpful and you can feel completely safe.