Western Balkans citizens legally resident in EU equal to 14% of region’s population
International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has stripped Belarus of the right to hold the World Championship this year
Alexei Navalny arrested on arrival as he returns home
LONG READ: The oligarch problem
Russia's National Welfare Fund accounts for almost 12% of GDP
Police arresting activists ahead of Saturday’s demonstration in support of Navalny
Biden seeking a five-year extension to START II missile treaty
Russian consumer confidence index drops q/q, y/y in 4Q20
Western Balkans and Ukraine urged to scrutinise coal subsidies
Oligarchs trying to derail Ukraine’s privatisation programme, warns the head of Ukraine’s State Property Fund
Private finance mobilised by development banks up 9% to $175bn in 2019
VISEGRAD BLOG: Central Europe's populists need a new strategy for Biden
OUTLOOK 2021 Lithuania
EBRD says loan to Estonia’s controversial Porto Franco project was never disbursed
Czech MPs pass protectionist food law in violation of EU rules
M&A in Central and Eastern Europe fell 16% in value in 2020, says CMS report
Hungarian vehicle makers hit by supply chain shortage
COVID-19 and Trump’s indifference helped human rights abusers in 2020
OUTLOOK 2021 Poland
OUTLOOK 2021 Slovakia
BRICKS & MORTAR: Rosier future beckons for CEE retailers after year of change and disruption
FDI inflows to CEE down 58% in 1H20 but rebound expected
Albania needs reforms for e-commerce to thrive, says World Bank
BALKAN BLOG: US approach to switch from quick-fix dealmaking to experience and cooperation
Corona-induced slump in global clothing sector dragged down Albania’s 2020 exports
Bosnia's exports in 2020 amounted to BAM10.5bn, trade deficit to BAM6.3bn
Bulgaria's Biodit first company to IPO on new BEAM market
Bulgaria’s government considers gradual easing of COVID-related restrictions
Sofia-based LAUNCHub Ventures holds first close of new fund on €44mn
Spring lockdown caused spike in online transactions in Croatia
ING: Growth in the Balkans: from zero to hero again?
Labour demand down 28% y/y in Croatia in 2020
EBRD investments reach record €11bn in pandemic-struck 2020
OUTLOOK 2021 Moldova
Storming parliaments: New Europe's greatest hits
World Bank revises projection for Moldova’s 2020 GDP decline to 7.2%
Montenegrins say state administration is most corrupt institution
North Macedonia plans to cut personal income tax in IT sector to zero in 2023
Romania government to pursue “ambitious” timetable for justice reforms
OUTLOOK 2021 Romania
OUTLOOK 2021 Slovenia
Slovenia’s opposition files no-confidence motion against Jansa cabinet
Slovenia’s government to release funds to news agency STA after EU pressure
UK Moneyhub picks Slovenia for post-Brexit European base
D’S Damat franchise deals ‘show Turkey’s hard-pressed mall operators becoming their own tenants’
Turkey’s benchmark rate held as concerns over faltering recovery come to fore
Turkish lira breaches HSBC’s stop-loss, Turkey ETF signalling outflows
CAUCASUS BLOG : What can Biden offer the Caucasus and Stans, all but forgotten about by Trump?
Armenia ‘to extend life of its 1970s Metsamor nuclear power plant after 2026’
OUTLOOK 2021 Armenia
COMMENT: Record high debt levels will slow post-coronavirus recovery, threaten some countries' financial stability, says IIF
OUTLOOK 2021 Georgia
Iran’s technology minister indicted for failing to properly implement internet censorship
No US move to rejoin Iran nuclear deal imminent, say Biden national security nominees
TEHRAN BLOG: Will Biden bet on a quick return to the Iran nuclear deal?
Tehran Stock Exchange chief quits amid “Black Monday” fury
Central Asia vaccination plans underwhelm, but governments look unruffled
Fears of authoritarianism as Kyrgyz populist wins landslide and backing for ‘Khanstitution’
Mongolia's PM quits amid protests over treatment of mother with coronavirus and newborn baby
Mongolia's winter dzud set to be one of most extreme on record says Red Cross
Mongolian coal exports to China paralysed as Beijing demands virus testing of truck drivers
Mongolia fears economic damage as country faces up to its first local transmissions of coronavirus
OUTLOOK 2021 Tajikistan
OUTLOOK 2021 Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan: How the Grinch stole New Year
COMMENT: Uzbekistan is being transformed, but where are the democratic reforms?
Download the pdf version
More...
US presidential candidate and former Vice-President Joe Biden released a strong statement condemning the falsification of the Belarusian elections on August 10 and called for an end to the police violence against peaceful protesters that have taken to the streets.
He did so using the Belarusian spelling of the strongman’s name in a move that was designed to appeal to the protesters and carries an implicit rebuke for the country's president of 26 years. But getting the transliterations of Belarusian name right is proving a nightmare for sub-editors around the globe.
“Democracies are built on the simple concept that citizens have a right to elect their leaders and have a say in their country’s future. After suffering systematic repression for the past 26 years under the authoritarian regime of President Alexander Lukashenka, the people of Belarus are demanding their voices be heard,” Biden said in the statement.
Biden’s comments are interesting to observers of eastern Europe, because if he defeats US President Donald Trump in November’s elections he is likely to be a lot more engaged in the region’s politics than either of the last two presidents. Earlier this year it was reported that Trump “doesn’t give a sh*t about Ukraine,” according to Gordon Sondland, a former US ambassador to Ukraine.
Biden was President Barak Obama’s point man on Kyiv during the 2014 EuroMaidan protests that resulted in the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych. He is a lot more familiar with the region than the majority of his colleagues and travelled to Kyiv where he gave a powerful speech to the Rada deputies, calling them to account and do the right thing by the citizens of the country.
That sensitivity to local political mores was on display in this statement, where he refers to “Lukashenka,” the Belarusian transliteration of the Republic’s president, rather than “Lukashenko,” which is the almost universally used Russian transliteration of the president’s name.
The difference is likely to go down with opposition leaders and the general public that hold the nation’s sovereignty as a key plank in their reform demands and have widely rejected Lukashenko’s plan to create a “Union State” that would more closely integrate Belarus’ economy with that of Russia, including a single currency.
After much discussion bne IntelliNews has decided to go with the Russian transliterations, despite it being politically incorrect, for the purely pragmatic reason of being visible in Google searches, as almost no one uses the Belarusian version of the name.
The problems of transliteration are much worse in Belarus than they are with Ukrainian names, as the differences in spelling are much more extreme and there is no consensus on which of several transliteration systems to use.
For example, the name of former housewife and nominal victor in Belarus’ presidential election is spelt Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in the Russian transliteration, but transliterating from Belarusian you can choose between Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, which is an alternative transliteration from Russian (“T” and “Ts” are two different letters in Cyrillic), or the strict transliteration from Belarusian Sviatlana Cichanoŭskaja or Cichanouskaja.
The use of the Belarusian transliteration is unusual and so far even the State Department is sticking with the “Tikhanovskaya” version of the opposition leader’s name in the few statements where she is mentioned.
The US State Department – and a lot of other people – still struggle with the Ukrainian versions of common words. For example, the politically correct spelling of the Ukrainian capital is “Kyiv” based on the Ukrainian version of Cyrillic of the word, rather than “Kiev” which is the Russian version. (There are multiple versions of Cyrillic used in different countries.)
Most international newspapers have been using Kiev for years, “because of the chicken thing,” one editor at the Financial Times told bne IntelliNews, but more recently a growing number of publications have updated their style guides to “Kyiv” for reasons of political correctness.
During the Maidan protests in 2014 some US State Department statements began to use “Kyiv” in a show of solidarity with the protestors, but the practice has faded and “Kiev” continues to appear. Indeed, some US politicians continue to refer to “the Ukraine” rather than “Ukraine”, a big faux pas amongst Eastern Europe watchers: the former refers to a region of the Soviet Union; the latter is an independent country.
Apart from the intricacies of getting the spellings right, Biden went on to make a forthright criticism of the authorities' actions in Belarus.
“The Lukashenka regime has cut internet access, arrested protesters and independent journalists, and tried to muzzle foreign observers. These are not the actions of a political leader confident that he has won a fairly conducted election. But thanks to brave citizens – journalists, activists and ordinary people documenting these extraordinary events – we know the truth about the assaults on democracy being committed by the regime,” Biden said.
Some policy makers in the West have warned against being too hard on Lukashenko, as if he is totally cut off from Europe that will only drive him into the arms of the Kremlin. Biden’s remarks reinforce speculation that if he becomes president, the US will take a much tougher position on Russia than Trump and has already conceded Belarus to Putin’s camp.
“My administration will never shy away from standing up for democratic principles and human rights, and we will work with our democratic allies and partners to speak with one voice in demanding these rights be respected,” Biden concluded.
Register here to continue reading this article and 5 more for free or purchase 12 months full website access including the bne Magazine for just $250/year.
Register to read the bne monthly magazine for free:
Already registered
Password could contain only a-z0-9\+*?[^]$(){}=!<>|:-_ characters and have 8-20 symbols length.
Please complete your registration by confirming your email address.
A confirmation email has been sent to the email address you provided.
Forgotten password?
Email field can't be empty.
No user with this email address.
Access recovery request has expired, or you are using the wrong recovery token. Please, try again.
Access recover request has expired. Please, try again.
To continue viewing our content you need to complete the registration process.
Please look for an email that was sent to with the subject line "Confirmation bne IntelliNews access". This email will have instructions on how to complete registration process. Please check in your "Junk" folder in case this communication was misdirected in your email system.
If you have any questions please contact us at sales@intellinews.com
Sorry, but you have used all your free articles fro this month for bne IntelliNews. Subscribe to continue reading for only $119 per year.
Your subscription includes:
For the meantime we are also offering a free subscription to bne's digital weekly newspaper to subscribers to the online package.
Click here for more subscription options, including to the print version of our flagship monthly magazine:
More subscription options
Take a trial to our premium daily news service aimed at professional investors that covers the 30 countries of emerging Europe:
Get IntelliNews PRO
For any other enquiries about our products or corporate discounts please contact us at sales@intellinews.com
If you no longer wish to receive our emails, unsubscribe here.
Magazine annual electronic subscription
Magazine annual print subscription
Website & Archive annual subscription
Combined package: web access & magazine print annual subscription