Main Event on 1 December 2022 in Berlin

Belarus and the War:
How Firm is Russia’s Grip?

The Minsk Forum 2022 took place for the twentieth time. The main event was organised by the German-Belarusian Society in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and was held in Berlin on 1 December 2022.

This was preceded by events in Vilnius, Warsaw and Brussels. The Belarusian diaspora was offered another opportunity for exchange on 2 December at the IAC conference rooms.

Programme

9:00 Arrival, registration & welcome coffee

The event is moderated by Dr. Christian F. Trippe, Deputy Chair of the Board, German-Belarusian Society

10:00 Welcome addresses

Dr. Sabine Fandrych, Secretary General, Friedrich Ebert Foundation Berlin
Dr. Hanna Stähle, Chair of the Board, German-Belarusian Society

10:10 Keynotes

Dr. Tobias Lindner, Minister of State, Foreign Ministry of Germany
Valery Kavaleusky, Representative for Foreign Affairs in the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus

11:00 I. Panel| Politics

Germany and Europe at the Side of Belarus: Roadmap for Further Support of the Democracy Movement

Knut Abraham, MdB CDU, Member of the German Parliament
Dr. Nils Schmid, MdB SPD, Member of the German Parliament
Moderated by Katsiaryna Kryzhanouskaya, Deutsche Welle, Belarus-Team

12:30 Lunch

13:45 II. Panel| Economics

Current State of the Economy in Belarus, Impact of Sanctions and Prospects for Development

Robert Kirchner, Senior Advisor and Deputy Team Leader at the German Economic Team
Sierz Naurodski, Representative in Baltic countries, ABBA
Dr. Lev Lvovskiy, Research Fellow, BEROC
Yulia Miadzvetskaya, doctoral researcher, University of Tübingen
Moderated by Stefan Kägebein, Regional Director Eastern Europe, German Eastern Business Association

15:15 Coffee break

15:45 III. Panel| Society

Understanding Belarus – Belarusian Identity, incl. Presentation of a New Study

Philipp Bikanau, Independent Sociologist, Presentation of study
Henadz Korshunau, Senior Analyst at the Center for New Ideas
Andrei Kazakevich, Director, Institute for Political Studies “Political Sphere”
Maryia Rohava, Independent Researcher specialising in Belarusian area studies
Natallia Vasilevich, Theologian, moderator of Christian Vision for Belarus
Moderated by Zmicer Lukashuk, Editor at the Euroradio broadcast, author and moderator of the programme on national identity “Idea X”

17:30 Closing Remarks

The Future of German-Belarusian Relations: 20 years Minsk Forum
Prof. Dr. Rainer Lindner, Founder of the Minsk Forum, Member of the Advisory Board of the German-Belarusian Society
The Future of Belarus in Europe
Alina Koushyk, Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, Representative for National Revival

18:00 Get Together