"When we think about the War in Ukraine, we should think about Belarus as well," says Ryhor Astapenia, founder and research director of the Centre for New Ideas, a Minsk-based non-partisan civil society organization promoting democratic reforms in Belarus. On this episode, Ryhor shares with us about the importance of Belarus in the European security theater, the role of independent media in promoting democracy among Belarussians, and Aleksandr Lukashenko's support for Putin's agenda and the Russian wartime economy. Thanks for listening.

PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in Prague, Czechia at the Unlock 2024 summit presented by the Prague Civil Society Centre. Visit ⁠⁠https://unlockprague.com⁠⁠ for more information.

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Host: Nicholas Pierce

Assistant Producer: Katherine Birch

Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun

Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)

Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)

Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar

Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet

Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce

SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish

Main Closing Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Alex Productions, Beat Mekanik, Audiorezout)

Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com | https://connexions.ai