Eastern Europe / News
Belarusian ruble falls to record lows on the back of political crisis
The Belarusian ruble fell towards a record low against the dollar on August 24 due to mounting fears the showdown between the people and self-appointed President Alexander Lukashenko could drag on for months and cause an economic crisis.
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NBU Council chairman says second IMF tranche payment this year is “unrealistic”
Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Bohdan Danylyshyn said that the receipt of two tranches from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2020 is unrealistic and has called for a revision of cooperation conceptual framework
Thousands gather on Belarus' Independence Square in the rain to maintain protest momentum
Thousands of Belarusians defied police to gather once again on Independence Square in central Minsk to show their defiance of the authorities and the police which has started to randomly arrest protestors again.
EXCLUSIVE: Belarus’ Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: “I see myself with my family at home in Belarus for Christmas”
bne IntelliNews exclusive interview with Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. Belarusian opposition presidential candidate, dubbed Belarus’ Jeanne d’Arc
Russian investor eyes Hungary's largest steelworks
Talks with investors are ongoing on the sale of one of the largest industrial producers in Hungary, ISD Dunaferr, part of Ukraine's Industrial Union of Donbas.
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Leading members of Belarus’ Coordinating Council and strike movements have been arrested as Belarus' Lukashenko starts crackdown
Leading members of Belarus’ Coordinating Council and strike movements were arrested on August 24 as Belarus' self-appointed president Alexander Lukashenko started to carry out a threat to “crackdown” on the opposition.
The March Of New Belarus demonstration attracts the biggest crowd since Belarus’ independence
A huge crowd of at least 250,000 answered the call by opposition leaders to rally in central Minsk on August 23 in the biggest show of defiance by the population yet, bigger even than the demonstrations in 1991 demanding the country’s independence.
Yulia Tymoshenko tests positive for coronavirus and in “serious condition”
Opposition leader, former Prime Minister and head of Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) Party Yulia Tymoshenko has been infected with coronavirus (COVID-19) and is in a serious condition, it was reported on August 23.
Lukashenko retakes control of the media, plays the "enemy at the gate" card
Another missing Belarus protester was found dead in a forest in the Partyzanski district of Minsk over the weekend. He was the fourth protester to die in the current uprising against Belarus' self-appointed President Alexander Lukashenko
A 32-kilometre human chain from Vilnius to Belarusian border formed
Some 50,000 people have reportedly formed an approximately 32-km human chain from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius to the Belarusian border to demonstrate solidarity with the Belarusian opposition contesting the fraudulent August 9 presidential result.
FSB admits to “close’ surveillance of Russian opposition activist Navalny, who was medivaced to Berlin after suspected poison attack
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) admitted to closely following anti-corruption blogger and opposition activist Alexei Navalny while in Tomsk, where he appears to have been poisoned
Little girl Holodomor statue in Kyiv torn down by vandals
A statue of a little girl that symbolises Holodomor, the famine that killed millions of Ukrainians, was torn down by vandals in what is seen as a political act just a day before Ukraine celebrates its independence day.