To succeed, he will need to show that the Brussels technocracy didn't rub off on him.

The West has for years shown that it is perfectly willing to tolerate KGB-style abuses.

The US president is signalling to democratic forces in both countries that they must first stand on their own two feet.

The protests in Russia have drawn comparisons to the popular movement that emerged in Belarus last August.

Belarusians will be a formidable adversary for Lukashenko’s exhausted security services.

For the current leaders of Poland, Hungary, Serbia and the UK, Biden’s win is a disaster.

Women protest leaders have been exchanging plans with their counterparts across the border.

Far from demobilising public opposition, the government is unwittingly fueling it.

Lukashenko would not give up the presidency before unleashing the full force of the security apparatus.

Election observers’ mere presence was a demonstration that Lukashenko can no longer rely on repression and fear.

It would appear that violations of the rule of law have been relegated by the pandemic.

Countries have accepted the status quo in Poland for years, so it is hard to believe that things will suddenly change.

Wall-to-wall coverage of the pandemic leaves no attention to spare for political opposition parties and movements.