Punished for being abused: Belarusian controversy
Gradually but decisively, the European Union is folding Belarus into the same category as Russia. The toughest measures are coming from states that share a border with Belarus. How did a society once seen as a victim of Europe’s most brutal dictatorship come to be regarded as complicit in its crimes?
February 23, 2026 -
Nasta Zakharevich
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Articles and CommentaryIssue 1-2 2026Magazine
A protest sign in Vilnius last year calls for release of Belarusian political prisoners. Many who fled the Lukashenka regime settled in Lithuania. Yet at the same time, former political prisoners have been denied international protection in the country on the grounds that they have already served their sentences and therefore face no further threat. Photo: Michele Ursi / Shutterstock

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