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Distance education as one of the new and perspective forms of completing higher education increases in popularity around the world. At the same time, the development of this model of education generates new problems: organization of the study process and information security. Distance learning allows solving a problem of accessibility of higher education in case of social issues, working hours, etc. Therefore, distance education is of major importance in increasing the learning efficiency. The Latvian model of distance education is passing the stage of formation and approbation in the market of educational services. However, the creation of system of distance education should not be the final step for higher education institutions as such; furthermore, this process would not be developed without students. Therefore, the objective of the present research is to find out the opinion of the students on the expediency of distance education. More than 850 students from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Serbia and Belarus have participated in the research. Results of the research have revealed that the traditional form of education based on communication between the lecturer and the student is more demanded among the students. At present, distance learning, unfortunately, cannot be characterised by stable demand. In order to increase the demand for such model of education, public presentations and discussions should be made, and media support is also necessary.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of a variety of levels of education, namely, high school, vocational and university education, on the probability of being employed in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Design/methodology/approach: The data are from two waves of the Life-in-Transition Survey that covers 29 post-communist transitional countries. The number of binary logistic models is estimated to quantify the effects of different types of education on the likelihood of being employed, while controlling for different sets of covariates. Findings: The findings reveal that the effect of employment associated with university education is higher than that of vocational education, which in turn is higher than that of high school education. However, the differences between the effects of the various levels of education are not considerable. Any specific level of education is always associated with a higher effect in Eastern Europe as compared to the former Soviet Union. The effect of education is also found to be higher for females than for males. In the former Soviet Union, the positive effect of university and vocational education on employment is found to go down with age. Originality/value: This is the first study which compares effect of different types of education on probability of being employed on a diverse sample of 29 post-communist countries over the period of five years.

The article deals with comparative analysis of conceptual approaches and content of cooks' training in Ukraine, European countries, the USA and Eastern Partnership countries. It has been found out that national vocational education is grounded on education standards and activity-based approach to forming the training content, subject-based structure of curricula and, surely, needs to become competency-based. It has been revealed that in Eastern Partnership countries there is a normative base of cooks' vocational training and it is accorded with the competency-based approach. However, such states as the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, and the Republic of Kazakhstan implement study programs for training cooks in traditional institutions of formal vocational training of Post-Soviet type. At the same time, the training of future cooks in European countries is mainly oriented toward the concept of continuing education and is variable, multilevel, wide-profile, at most approximated to the needs of catering trade. The level-based curricula and dual system of cooks' training in vocational schools of France, Austria and Italy have been characterized. In addition, the authors have defined the common feature of professional practical training of cooks in culinary schools in the USA, that is its organization under the conditions of real production that ensures a wide professional competency of future cooks, their acquiring knowledge and skills needed for professional activity. It has been concluded that positive aspects of foreign experience may assist in defining prognostic directions for the development of cooks' vocational training in Ukraine.

With the fall of communism in 1989, Eastern and Central Europe would quickly become part of an already strong global tide of privatization in higher education. Nowhere else did private higher education rise so suddenly or strongly from virtual nonexistence to a major regional presence. A fresh database allows us to analyze the extent and dimensions of that presence, including various national and subregional quantitative dimensions. Yet the private sector is strongly challenged on several fronts, including paradoxically by the public sector's own partial privatization, sometimes closely linked to the private-sector growth. Nonetheless, private higher education has continued to grow thus far into the new century, with shifting national and subregional patterns. Higher education privatization remains a noteworthy reality in Eastern and Central Europe but it is an evolving reality.

The concept of individualization as "a macrosocial process of modern times" was developed within the framework of general theories in the course of examining and explaining the sociality of the second half of the twentieth century. In the case of U. Beck's theory of risk society, individualization is interpreted as "liberation from traditional life interconnections," in which "family obligations and class differences . . . are relegated to the background with respect to the newly emerging "center" of the plan of the life story". In accordance with the methodological postulate that in a situation in which there is an increase in the number of alternatives, when resolving moral issues the likelihood of choosing the same option will go down, the author focuses on the dimension of differentiation, and considers individualization in morality as the maximal variability of normative orientations in society. The author looks at the degree of individualization in the morality of post-Soviet youth in Eastern Europe (Belarus, Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine). In the study, use was made of the data of a European and world study of values in aggregated form for the countries of Eastern Europe and processed data for the Western countries. Survey data on individualism among young people in Russia, Belarus, and Lithuania show that while it was approximately equal in 1990, the population of Lithuania became more individualized with respect to morality than did the population of Russia by 2000, while by then Belarus showed the highest level among the three countries. (Contains 3 tables.)

Longitudinal data on the cognitive and physical outcomes of children adopted from Eastern Europe by American families is limited. While there is clear evidence that many children adopted from Eastern European countries are more at risk for medical concerns and developmental delay, research that follows these children into their elementary school experience is lacking. This article presents the findings of a study focusing on the educational outcomes of children adopted from Eastern Europe. The children selected for the study were between the ages of 8 and 12 and were adopted from the following Eastern European countries: Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Lithuania, Moldova, Latvia, and Belarus.

Regional studies of precipitation changes over Europe show that its eastern part is characterized by small changes in annual precipitation and insignificant aridity trends compared to central and southern Europe. However, a frequency analysis over the past 30 years showed statistically significant increasing dryness trends in eastern Europe and an increase in the occurrence of extremely high rainfall as well as prolonged no-rain intervals during the warm season. The largest increase in aridity was observed in the western and central parts of Belarus. During 1990–2020, the frequency of dry periods doubled in all river basins along the Black, Caspian, and Baltic Sea water divide areas of eastern Europe. From 1970 to 1990, there were high streamflow rates during the winter low-flow season. Consequently, over the past 50 years, in spring, we observed here a continued decrease in maximal discharges across all river basins. In summer, we detected a statistically significant increase in the number of days with anticyclonic weather over eastern Europe, a decrease in rainfall duration by 15–20%, an increase in daily precipitation maxima by 20–30%, and an increase in the number of days with a low relative humidity by 1–4 days per decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 12 March 2022, I attended Dogs of Europe, a performance by Belarus Free Theatre (BFT) at London's Barbican Theatre. Adapted from the novel by Belarusian writer Alhierd Bacharevič, the play imagines a dystopian future in which Russia's imperial expansion swallows up swathes of eastern Europe to create a 'Russian Reich'. The timing of the work is uncanny and unsettling – it unintentionally (but astutely) coincided with the horrifying Russian invasion of Ukraine. The novel and stage adaptation depict a Europe that has become a fragmented European League of States with little unifying purpose or moral compass ('people in Europe no longer read', as one character announces). My encounter with Dogs of Europe considers how the BFT uses performance techniques to offer an affecting and intimate geopolitics, with the aspiration of motivating audiences towards an activist stance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of underground hibernacula for the conservation of bats and monitoring their populations is well-recognized. However, the lowland territory of Belarus, with absent natural caves and suitable for bats mines, was one of the least surveyed European regions in terms of underground bat sites, and especially hibernacula. To address this knowledge gap, in 2020, we conducted a broadscale one winter bat survey, exploring 90 underground sites (basements, cellars, church crypts, fortifications, and facilities of abandoned Soviet missile bases) in various parts of Belarus. To our knowledge, none of these sites had been examined for bats before. In 56 of the 90 underground sites, we discovered hibernating bats (a total of 1054 ind.) of six species: Barbastella barbastellus (78.5% of all bats), Myotis daubentonii (7.4%), Plecotus auritus (5.1%), Eptesicus nilssonii (4.9%), Myotis brandtii and Eptesicus serotinus (in sum, 2%). The distribution of bats among the hibernacula was highly uneven (with NMe = 3; Nav = 19 ind.). In 76% of the hibernacula, the number of bats was between 1 and 10 individuals per site, which accounted for approximately 10% of all bats recorded during the survey. Only in five sites we found over 50 bats. One to four species were present in each site, with one species found in 58% of the hibernacula. We suppose that the small number of species and relatively small number of bats per hibernaculum is characteristic of the study region. This supports the idea that selecting key underground bat sites for their conservation and monitoring should be done regionally and only after obtaining primary data about bat species and their numbers in a sufficient number of sites. Our data significantly expands knowledge about underground bat hibernacula in the large lowland territory of eastern Europe and may serve as a starting point for further monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In western and north-western Europe there has been a growing focus on exploring how major economic, political, and social changes during the Medieval period impacted the lived experience of different populations and sectors of society. Stable isotope analysis has proven particularly powerful in this regard, providing direct insights into the long-term diets of individuals and communities. Despite experiencing similarly dramatic social reconfigurations and changes, eastern Europe has, however, received far less attention in this regard. The territory of Belarus has, especially, so far remained a relative blank spot on the bioarchaeological map of Europe, though cities such as Polack emerged rapidly as key nodes within a growing economic and religious network. To gain direct insight into the diets of inhabitants of the Polack region of Belarus in the 11-18th centuries, we applied stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis to bone and dentine collagen from human (n = 143) and animal (n = 105) individuals from the city of Polack and surrounding rural sites. Results indicate a diet based on C3 terrestrial resources, which did not differ between sexes and showed limited variation over time. Contrary to expectations, it appears that animal products were commonly consumed by rural dwellers, but no significant reliance on fish resources or millet consumption is found. In contrast to examples from western Europe, we argue that the diets in the city and the surrounding villages remained broadly similar for the majority of the population, and similar to commoners analysed in Poland and Lithuania, perhaps suggestive of slightly different economic changes operating in this part of the Medieval world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The problem of the ageing population has resulted in attitudes towards aging in different age groups becoming a subject of increased academic interest. Objectives. To provide comparative characteristics of the prevalence of manifestations of gerontological ageism among university students in five European countries. Material and methods. The sample consisted of university students (n = 2493) aged 18–25 from Belarus (n = 827), Russia (n = 528), Poland (n = 798), Lithuania (n = 223) and Ukraine (n = 117). The prevalence of gerontological ageism among respondents was evaluated according to the Fraboni Ageism Scale. Results. The prevalence and manifestations of gerontological ageism vary depending on the country. The maximum total indicator, displaying the highest overall level of ageism, was noted among Belarusian students, the minimum – in Lithuania (p < 0.05). The final indicators of gerontological ageism were found to be the following: the level of age discrimination and negative emotional attitude towards the elderly was increased in one fifth of the respondents in all five groups. The observation found the level of ageism averaging at 60%, evenly distributed in all groups. The predominant attitudes towards older people were found to be neutral or positive (84.6%). Conclusions. The manifestations of ageism are international in nature and can explain 20% of the total variety of answers characterising the differences in ranked attributes and degree of ageism. The total indicator showed the highest degree of gerontological ageism among students in Belarus, the lowest – among those in Lithuania, with levels of gerontological ageism among students in Russia, Poland and Ukraine distributed in between. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Moldova, Belarus, and Armenia are post-Soviet countries with a high rate of heavy smokers and a relatively high age-standardized incidence of oral cancer. However, to our knowledge, there is lack of available information on dentists' knowledge on prevention of oral cancer in the countries in question. Accordingly, this study aimed to assess the knowledge, opinions, and practices related to oral cancer prevention and oral mucosal examination among dentists in Moldova, Belarus, and Armenia. Methods: This was a multi-country, cross-sectional study based on a self-administered questionnaire. A structured questionnaire was distributed to 3534 dentists (797 in Chisinau, Moldova, 1349 in Minsk, Belarus, and 1388 in Yerevan, Armenia). Dentists' knowledge about risk factors for oral cancer development and its clinical picture, current practices and opinions with regard to oral mucosal screening and oral cancer prevention, and their consistency to perform oral mucosal examination were assessed. A knowledge score ranging from 0 to 14 points was generated based on each dentist's answer to the questionnaire. Results: A total of 1316 dentists responded, achieving an overall response rate of 37.2% (34.5% in Moldova; 52.3% in Belarus; 24.2% in Armenia). Most dentists in the three countries correctly identified tobacco (83.8–98.2%) and prior oral cancer lesions (84.0–96.3%) as risk factors for oral cancer. Most dentists correctly identified leukoplakia as a lesion with malignant potential (68.7% in Moldova; 88.5% in Belarus; 69.9% in Armenia), while erythroplakia was identified by much fewer in all three countries. Less than 52% of dentists identified the tongue, rim of tongue, and floor of mouth as the most common sites for oral cancer. The mean knowledge score for all countries combined was 7.5 ± 2.7. The most commonly reported barriers to perform oral mucosal examination were lack of training, knowledge, and experience. Conclusions: This study highlights the need for improved oral cancer-related education and training on oral mucosal examination for dentists in Moldova, Belarus, and Armenia. Such skills are essential to enhance oral cancer prevention and to improve the prognostic outcome by early detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In this study, we built upon our initial research published in 2020 by incorporating an additional 2 years of data for Europe. We assessed whether COVID-19 had shifted from the pandemic to endemic phase in the region when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the end of the public health emergency of international concern on May 5, 2023., Objective: We first aimed to measure whether there was an expansion or contraction in the pandemic in Europe at the time of the WHO declaration. Second, we used dynamic and genomic surveillance methods to describe the history of the pandemic in the region and situate the window of the WHO declaration within the broader history. Third, we provided the historical context for the course of the pandemic in Europe in terms of policy and disease burden at the country and region levels., Methods: In addition to the updates of traditional surveillance data and dynamic panel estimates from the original study, this study used data on sequenced SARS-CoV-2 variants from the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data to identify the appearance and duration of variants of concern. We used Nextclade nomenclature to collect clade designations from sequences and Pangolin nomenclature for lineage designations of SARS-CoV-2. Finally, we conducted a 1-tailed t test for whether regional weekly speed was greater than an outbreak threshold of 10. We ran the test iteratively with 6 months of data across the sample period., Results: Speed for the region had remained below the outbreak threshold for 4 months by the time of the WHO declaration. Acceleration and jerk were also low and stable. While the 1-day and 7-day persistence coefficients remained statistically significant, the coefficients were moderate in magnitude (0.404 and 0.547, respectively; P<.001 for both). The shift parameters for the 2 weeks around the WHO declaration were small and insignificant, suggesting little change in the clustering effect of cases on future cases at the time. From December 2021 onward, Omicron was the predominant variant of concern in sequenced viral samples. The rolling t test of speed equal to 10 became insignificant for the first time in April 2023., Conclusions: While COVID-19 continues to circulate in Europe, the rate of transmission remained below the threshold of an outbreak for 4 months ahead of the WHO declaration. The region had previously been in a nearly continuous state of outbreak. The more recent trend suggested that COVID-19 was endemic in the region and no longer reached the threshold of the pandemic definition. However, several countries remained in a state of outbreak, and the conclusion that COVID-19 was no longer a pandemic in Europe at the time is unclear., (©Alexander L Lundberg, Scott A Wu, Alan G Soetikno, Claudia Hawkins, Robert L Murphy, Robert J Havey, Egon A Ozer, Charles B Moss, Sarah B Welch, Maryann Mason, Yingxuan Liu, Lori A Post. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (https://publichealth.jmir.org), 21.06.2024.)

Background: Hansen's disease (leprosy), widespread in medieval Europe, is today mainly prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions with around 200,000 new cases reported annually. Despite its long history and appearance in historical records, its origins and past dissemination patterns are still widely unknown. Applying ancient DNA approaches to its major causative agent, Mycobacterium leprae, can significantly improve our understanding of the disease's complex history. Previous studies have identified a high genetic continuity of the pathogen over the last 1500 years and the existence of at least four M. leprae lineages in some parts of Europe since the Early Medieval period. Results: Here, we reconstructed 19 ancient M. leprae genomes to further investigate M. leprae's genetic variation in Europe, with a dedicated focus on bacterial genomes from previously unstudied regions (Belarus, Iberia, Russia, Scotland), from multiple sites in a single region (Cambridgeshire, England), and from two Iberian leprosaria. Overall, our data confirm the existence of similar phylogeographic patterns across Europe, including high diversity in leprosaria. Further, we identified a new genotype in Belarus. By doubling the number of complete ancient M. leprae genomes, our results improve our knowledge of the past phylogeography of M. leprae and reveal a particularly high M. leprae diversity in European medieval leprosaria. Conclusions: Our findings allow us to detect similar patterns of strain diversity across Europe with branch 3 as the most common branch and the leprosaria as centers for high diversity. The higher resolution of our phylogeny tree also refined our understanding of the interspecies transfer between red squirrels and humans pointing to a late antique/early medieval transmission. Furthermore, with our new estimates on the past population diversity of M. leprae, we gained first insights into the disease's global history in relation to major historic events such as the Roman expansion or the beginning of the regular transatlantic long distance trade. In summary, our findings highlight how studying ancient M. leprae genomes worldwide improves our understanding of leprosy's global history and can contribute to current models of M. leprae's worldwide dissemination, including interspecies transmissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of the training of mental health professionals in WPA Zone 10 was performed based on a comparison of data of a specifically designed questionnaire comprising 29 questions on undergraduate education, 34 questions on postgraduate training, and six questions on training of general practitioners to work in the field of mental health. The project involved National Associations of psychiatrists of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine. This comparison provides an opportunity to identify ways to improve psychiatric training in Eastern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of social, political and economic transformation, which took place in Central and Eastern Europe in the early 90's, has affected many spheres of Europeans' lives, including health-associated issues. These changes also had an impact on mortality rates due to cervical cancer (CC). Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse CC mortality trends in Europe after 1990. Data on death due to CC, uterine cancers and unspecified uterine cancers, in women aged 20–44, were taken from the WHO Mortality Database. Trends in European countries between 1990 and 2017 were assessed using the Joinpoint Regression Program. Most of the countries experienced a decrease in CC mortality. Although the lowest rates were observed in EU15 Member States, the highest decreases were observed in Central and Eastern Europe. However, there are still differences in mortality in these countries. There are also a few countries like Belarus, Latvia and Ukraine, which experienced an increase in mortality. The range of mortality across Europe in 2017 was between 0.6 and 5.2/100,000 women. It is essential to introduce well-organised screening programmes for early detection of CC with coverage of a correspondingly high percentage of the population, particularly in East-Central Europe, as well as to introduce high-coverage HPV vaccination in all European countries. • Cervical cancer mortality in most of the European countries is decreasing. • The highest decrease in the mortality is observed in Eastern and Southern Europe. • Mortality rates in East-Central Europe are still higher than in Western Europe. • Latvia and Belarus are two European countries with a steady increasing trend. • In Western Europe, epidemiological transition of cervical cancer is completed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is a critical verification of the late Middle Pleistocene stratigraphy in Poland in connection with stratigraphical schemes in the neighbouring countries. Although a terrestrial record of the Middle Pleistocene is almost complete in western and southern Europe, it is full of gaps in central and eastern Europe. Eight key sites in Poland and one in Belarus were selected to compile environmental and palaeoclimate data for a revised stratigraphy from the termination of MIS 12 to MIS 6, and the chronology was based on correlation with oxygen isotope stratigraphy and OSL ages. The late Middle Pleistocene record starts with the Holsteinian lake sequences, some of which have been initiated already at the end of MIS 12, persisted through MIS 11 and terminated in mid-MIS 10. In the examined sites, MIS 11 is represented also by deposits of meandering rivers in a temperate climate. In contrast, there is no evidence for deposition in most of MIS 10 and in MIS 9. A warmer and presumably wet episode at the beginning of MIS 8 lead to local erosion, followed by development of small lakes. Modest ice sheet advance into central Europe occurred in the second part of MIS 8, as reflected by a till, glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine deposits and presumably, also by permafrost and ice wedges in western Belarus. MIS 7 seems to have been generally warm and wet when small lakes and meandering rivers could develop. Such mild conditions were interrupted with cool and probably drier episodes when braided rivers and limited pedogenesis occurred. Saalian ice sheet cover of central Europe in MIS 6 was widespread, but even more importantly, in this stage periglacial environments were dominant, as shown by continuous permafrost, intensive aeolian activity and development of ice wedges and involutions. Braided rivers developed during short wetter intervals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Understanding how nursing students in European countries perceive their future professional role is an important step in creating awareness of the diversity and similarities between countries. Investigating nursing students' perceptions of their future profession could help in the design of education and the retention of nurses. Aim: To compare nursing students' perceptions of the professional nurse's role between Belarus, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. Method: A cross‐sectional design was implemented. The study used two scales of the Professional Nursing Image Survey, which has questions about 10 skills and abilities and 14 functions and duties of a nurse. Results: A total of 392 final‐year nursing students in four countries participated in the study. Statistically significant differences were found between countries in terms of all 10 skills and abilities and in the distribution of responses concerning functions and duties of a nurse. Conclusions: Nursing students in Belarus, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden perceive differently the role of a nurse in terms of some functions and responsibilities. This may influence the adaptation of nurses who enjoy freedom of movement among the countries. Implications for nursing policy: The knowledge gained in this study could be beneficial in improving nursing education, as it could illuminate the discrepancy between educational goals and students' perceptions of their future professional role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The aim of the study is 2-fold. Firstly, it attempts to investigate the potential impact of major political and economic changes on inequalities in all-cause mortality among men and women with different levels of education in three Eastern European countries. Secondly, to identify changes in contribution of smoking and drinking to educational differences in all-cause mortality. Study covers the period from 1982 to 2013. Methods Data were collected in 2013–14 as a part of the PrivMort retrospective cohort study. Participants in Russia, Belarus and Hungary provided information on their educational attainment, health-related behaviors and vital statistics of their close relatives (N = 179 691). Odds ratios for mortality and relative indices of inequality (RII) were estimated for individuals aged 20–65 years, stratifying by three levels of educational attainment: higher, secondary and less than secondary education. Results Those in lower educational groups were significantly more likely to die, through most time periods and sub-groups. The RII increased over time in all countries and both genders, except for Hungarian men. Alcohol consumption and smoking have increasingly contributed to educational inequalities in mortality during this period. Conclusion Educational inequalities in mortality in these Eastern European countries have increased during recent decades. Smoking and alcohol consumption, two major health-related behaviors, made a significant contribution to these increases in inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the emerging phenomena of electric buses' deployment in Europe and Belarus within the general framework of the concept of sustainable and electric urban mobility. The author offers a brief overview of electric bus technologies available on the market and a spatial analysis of fleet deployment in Europe. The analysis of the spatial structure of the distribution of e-buses in Europe indicated that, in terms of the number of vehicles in operation, the UK and the Netherlands are the regional leaders, while in terms of the number of cities testing e-buses – Germany, Sweden, and Poland are the leaders. The analysis showed that the main factors supporting the distribution of innovative technology and public support are legislative and regulative framework as well as clear strategic planning and cooperation between local administrations and transportation authorities. Other important aspects, such as network building features, and the location of the charging infrastructure were also discussed. The analysis of the case study of Minsk (the first city to introduce electric buses in Belarus) outlined the typical limiting factors for all types of markets: high battery costs and dependency on infrastructure; recommendations are given to emphasise bus fleet replacement (instead of trolleybus) and to develop a comprehensive sustainable urban mobility strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on folk expressions on "the election without choice", as the state elections in authoritarian societies are often labeled. The research is based on the case of Belarus, where the electoral fraud has become a matter of common knowledge both for the Belarusians themselves and outside observers. Yet, even though the independent opinion polls are not exactly as positive for the Belarusian president as the official results of the election, they show that Alexander Lukashenko wins within the self-sufficient system he has created. This hegemony is nurtured, for instance, by various manifestations of the election sham reproduced by Belarusians. At the same time, the election rumors and jokes circulating in the oral communication and on the Internet question the existing hegemony. By means of fieldwork examples I show in this article how the genres of rumors and jokes are interconnected, sometimes to the point of being indiscernible. Rather than looking at the borders of the two genres, I will concentrate on their interplay, intertextual bridges between them, the ideologies they share, and new directions for understanding the non-verifiable folklore they provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that the well-known triadic relationship between kin state, resident state and national minority needs to take into account a fourth dimension: that of European institutions. This is illustrated through a study of relational identities on the EU’s Eastern border where the reconfiguration of ethnic relations followed the end of the iron curtain and EU accession. It considers two neighbouring ethnic minorities. One minority is part of the EU – the Belarusians in Poland – and the other is not part of the EU – the Poles in Belarus. The paper argues that the intersection of these four relational dimensions result in contrasting kinds of ethnic identification for the two minority groups leading to either fluidification or solidification under different circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine have significantly altered the security infrastructure in Eastern Europe and impacted the Belarusian authorities, who have begun to pay more attention to the condition of their country's military. The text examines the structure of Belarusian armed forces and their military relations with Russia. Regional defence alliances, such as the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) or military cooperation (joint exercises and industrial cooperation) between Belarus and its allies are also reviewed, along with the condition of the Belarusian armed forces and their ability to defend the country's territory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a number of events, during World War II in Belarus collaboration of the local people with the German occupation authorities took place. One of the most obvious episodes of collaboration was the establishment and the activity of the Belarusian National Defence. The armed unit was formed at the end of spring and in the beginning of summer 1944 through mobilization and was intended for armed combat with Soviet partisans and the Red Army. The article analyzes the process of establishing the unit, its numbers, the degree of combat readiness and participation in warfare. In summer 1944, after withdrawal of German forces from Belarus some of the soldiers of the Belarusian National Defence turned up at the Western front. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines Belarusian strategies in the bilateral politico-military alliance with Russia, focusing on the issue of recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in addition to the evolution of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation. It argues that the approaches interpreting the alliance as a response to decisions of external actors cannot fully account for the disagreements between the parties. The analysis of Belarusian strategies demonstrates how the decisions of external actors, such as the European Union and to a certain extent the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, function as bargaining chips for the Belarusian leadership. Due to the intra-alliance security dilemma, external actors have at times even weakened the alliance rather than automatically inducing its cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article discusses the Belarusian case of post-communist development and the role and status of Belarusian ethnicity in Belarus' nation-formation process. ‘Nationalizing nationalism’ (Brubaker), as realised by the Belarusian state through various social and cultural practices, is aimed at the creation of a Belarusian national entity without reference to the ethnocultural core of Belarusians. As a result of the nationalising practices of the Belarusian state, most Belarusians identify with their nation-state while displaying weak identification with ethnicity. At the same time, the recent dynamic of patterns of self-perception in Belarusian society can be interpreted as the beginning of a gradual ‘heating’ of the ethnocultural vitality of Belarusians, which is occurring under the impact of the agency of elites. Ethnolinguistic survival and vitality in this context can be viewed both as an argument in the struggle between different forces on the political arena and a factor contributing to victory in the rivalry between them. In this context, the phenomenon of ‘ethnic temperature’ can be analysed not only from the perspective of its impact on group vitality and survival, but also as a phenomenon dependent on various political, cultural and historical factors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Eurasian beaver is currently found in at least 32 European countries, with many of these populations being established in the 1960s. In most European countries, the beaver is under protection, however, when the population is strong, the beaver becomes a game species. In Poland, the beaver is partially protected despite the species having a strong population. In this study we aimed to compare the development trends of Eurasian beaver populations in two management regimes, in Poland (protected) and Belarus (hunted), between 2004 and 2019. We compared beaver population trends in both countries, and analyzed the factors that could impact population growth. In Poland, during this period the population increased 3.5 times, while in Belarus it was only 20%. Distinct differences in the rate of population numbers increase were also observed between regions in Poland, but a stable, slight increase similar in all regions in Belarus. Our study did not show that precipitation or the density of this species influenced the rate of population development in Poland. During this period, hunting and wolf density significantly and negatively impacted beaver population growth in Belarus, but in the long-term analysis, hunting had a lower impact on beaver population growth. We concluded that we can expect a further increase in this population in Poland. Long-term hunting at a level of 13,7% (based on the analysis of population dynamics and hunting bags for Belarus) of the annual population seems to be a safe value for the beaver population. Nevertheless more detailed analysis should be carried out in the face of the large differences between regions., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

A military report of September 1919 singled out Polish troops from the formerly Prussian province of Poznania as particularly abusive of, and prejudiced against, Belarusian Jews. This appears to have been a rather unusual case of German anti-Semitism in its Polish version. The Poznanians' prejudice against Eastern Jews, so characteristic of German anti-Semitism, was exacerbated by their hostility against Poznanian Jews, with whom they had been in longstanding conflict. Experiencing a culture clash upon entering the settlements of Eastern Jews, they regarded their inhabitants not only as very strange and unfamiliar but also as far less civilized and even more Jewish than their Poznanian coreligionists. This attitude was compounded by the Poznanians' twofold sense of superiority. First, Poznania was much more developed and contained a much smaller proportion of Jews than did Congress Poland, Galicia, and especially Betarus. Second, the Poznanians considered themselves the best unit of the Polish army and therefore looked down upon units from Congress Poland and Galicia, and especially on their officer corps, which they considered "Jew-ridden." Many of these prejudices were shared by the Poznanian officer corps whose members, in any event, were reluctant to punish their men for anti-Jewish excesses because of their own sense of insecurity. As a result, the Poznanians were much more likely than any other Polish troops to abuse Belarusian Jews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on human rights in Europe under the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Topics include the Moscow Mechanism on the Human Dimension, the 2010 presidential elections in Belarus, and the appointment of ambassador Lamberto Zannier to Secretary-General (SG) of the OSCE.

The article discusses economical and political aspects of Belarus, with a focus on the European Union interests in the region. Topics mentioned in the article include security interests of the European Union, Belarus foreign relations with Russia, Belarus' national identity, and its anachronic political system.

In this article the authors reflect on the increased emphasis on the security of energy supply on its political agenda by European governments. The authors cites the example of the 2001 Green Paper on Energy Security in Europe. It warns that without an active energy policy, the European Union (EU) will not be able to free itself from its increasing energy dependence and highlights the urgent need to diversify the various sources of supply. The article also mentions the interruption of energy supplies from Russia to EU member states during the Russia-Ukraine gas disputes of 2006 and the Russia-Belarus oil dispute of 2007 which fuelled discussions in the EU about a energy crisis and the long-term security of energy supplies to Europe.

The article discusses the relationship between Belarus and the European Eastern Partnership (EaP). The author argues that the official response to the EaP from the government of Belarus can be termed as pragmatic. The article also examines the relationship between Belarus and the European Union (EU) and also discusses political opposition within Belarus. The article discusses cooperation between the EaP and Belarus in energy security, visas, and free-trade zones.

The article presents an update on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). It announces that United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Ambassador Lamberto Zannier has been appointed as the new Secretary General of the OSCE. It relates the decision of the OSCE to trigger the Moscow Mechanism on the Human Dimension in response to the harsh government campaign against the political opposition in Belarus.

Belarus is situated at a crossroad of natural borders of species distributions: the NE part is situated in a taiga zone, whereas the other part of terrain is in the European forest zone. The distance of Belarus to the steppe zone is about 330 kilometers. This geographical position and the extensive knowledge of its fauna can be used to monitor changes in the distribution of different species. An intensive study of open habitat ground beetles was carried out from 1975-2008 in Belarus, using pitfall traps, quadratesampling methods, hand collecting, netting and light traps. In total, more than 130 000 specimens of ground beetles belonging to 169 species were collected from 62 fields and 11 meadows of different types. 217 specimens of Calosoma investigator (Illiger 1798), 2 specimens of C. denticolle (Gebler 1833), and one specimen of Harpalus subcylindricus (Dejean, 1829), H. honestus (Duftschmid 1812) and Zabrus tenebrioides (Goeze 1777) were present in this material. All specimens were macropterous and exclusively caught at fields and waste grounds on sandy soil. Nowadays Belarus is the northernmost location for these species in Eastern Europe. Steppe species most probably migrated to SE Belarus from NE Ukraine, using Dnieper and its river valleys. The shift in the geographic distribution of steppe species during the last thirty years in Belarus have been attributed to a higher frequency of warmer and wetter summers in the last few decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the ever more strongly felt presence of Muslims in western Europe has already stimulated numerous scholars of various social sciences to embark upon research on issues related to that presence, it is apparent that just a few studies and introductory text books have so far dealt with the evolution of Muslim communities in other parts of Europe, especially in countries of central, eastern, and northern Europe. Without appreciation of and comprehensive research into the more than six-hundred-year-long Muslim presence in the eastern Baltic rim the picture of the development of Islam and Muslim-Christian relations in Europe remains incomplete and even distorted. Therefore, this article argues for the necessity of approaching the history of Islam and Muslims in Europe from a different and ultimately more encompassing angle by including the minorities of Muslim cultural background that reside in the countries of the European part of the former Soviet Union-the Baltic states and Belarus. Besides arguing that it is necessary to reconsider and expand the research field in order to develop more profound studies of Islam and Muslims in Europe, the article also outlines suggestions as to why the Muslim history in the eastern Baltic rim has been generally excluded from the history of Islam in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers of Belorussia point out the existence of the term “mixed world” in the language of local people. It is quite similar to cultural borderland, but it is also used to descript sudden changes (historical, political and socio-cultural) as well as their consequences. The aim of the authoress is to popularize mentioned term and to show it might be used by anthropologists to describe the examined reality, contemporary as well as past, existing in people's memory. Selected examples from Europe are used to show the possibilities of using the concept of mixed world to describe the multicultural societies, migrations, EU enlargement or - in general - cultural borderlands and their changes. The authoress asks about the factors contributing to the mixed world. She underlines that every researcher using his own examples can present his own image of mixed world. It is a part of reality in which we live or which we reproduce from the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of Vilna as the general cultural area in the genesis of the national form of the Belarusian book culture is analysed. The way of forming the national self-consciousness, the national idea of the Belarusians in the sphere of the dominating types of culture (Polish, Russian), different political tendencies in which the most important part was played by national print are retraced. Attention is focused on the development of periodical press in Belarusian in the early 20th century ("Nasha Dolia", "Nasha Niva") in the multinational Vilna area. First of all, there are displayed the Belarusian-Lithuanian idea and personal intercommunications which are confirmed by publishing activities. The author concludes that Vilna was the place of the Renaissance of the Belarusian national print which became a unique phenomenon of nobilitation of the Belarusian language, literature, book and the Belarusian nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical memory embodied in a social space of Minsk represents "cultural signs" of several different epochs. In fact, the historical past of Minsk up to the beginning of the XIX century can be considered as the process of construction of its European identity. In this aspect, the XIX century demonstrated a shift to Russian euro-asianism, while the soviet history was a unique attempt to construct the universal Soviet identity with only a few features of the national culture. The contemporary epoch gives Minsk a unique chance to simultaneously increase both European and national identity of Belarusians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, the EU applies several and separate strategic frameworks for developing its relations with Eastern neighbours: 1) building four common spaces with Russia within the EU-Russia bilateral framework; 2) European neighbourhood policy (ENP) concept in relations with Ukraine and Moldova, which frames also bilateral EU-Ukraine and EU-Moldova agendas; and 3) a non-existent one that is represented by the EU's frozen relations with Belarus. The above three strategic frameworks represent three different and separate EU's Eastern policy agendas or, in other words, parallel policies of the EU towards its Eastern neighbours. Does this parallelism serve the EU in enforcing its interests in Eastern Europe? Does the EU need three/or more or one strategic framework for developing its relations with East European countries? The contribution aims to reason the need for both a new and one strategic framework for the EU's Eastern policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author offers some thoughts from the practice of hospice care for children in Belarus, where conditions are different from those in the majority of European countries. There is a brief sketch of the work of the Belarusian Children's Hospice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents statistics related to military forces of non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries in Europe. Military equipment of the Albanian Army; Deployment of Armenian forces; Military capabilities of Belarus.

While decline and/or extinction threaten an ever-increasing number of languages, most of these are minority tongues that struggle for survival against dominant languages. The present paper reports the case of Belarusian, a national and co-official language, which the great majority of the population of Belarus considers as its mother tongue, but which has become endangered due to sustained official policies discriminating against it, and the general apathy of the population. The paper places this complex and puzzling situation in the historical context of people long accustomed to changing cultural and linguistic elites, with a succession of rulers that paid little regard to the wishes or needs of the majority of the country’s inhabitants. Recent data are presented showing the rapid decline in the teaching of Belarusian language in schools and other public domains and the use of mixed dialects as the prevailing mode of communication, shifting through a Belarusian-Russian mix (trasianka) to Russian. The effort of a small national linguistic elite to sustain the use of standard Belarusian is examined against the concept of language as a core value of culture and Fishman’s framework for reversing language shift, in order to evaluate the prospects of maintaining Belarusian as an integral part of the linguistic heritage of Europe. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Examines the role of the German military police in implementing genocidal practices to eradicate Jews in Belorussia during World War II. Stages of targeting the group; Strategies to resolve conflicting interests for slave labor and extermination; Officials involved in the genocide.

The author reviews official government statistical sites for the following countries: Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Ukraine and Yugoslavia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]