Andrej Dynko

Andrej Dynko is a Belarussian writer and essayist. He is the Chairman of the Belarussian P.E.N., Editor-in-Chief of the independenty weekly Nasha Niva and Deputy Editor of the journal Arkhe.

People are beginning to lose their fear

Some 40,000 people took to the streets of the Belarusian capital Minsk on 19 December to protest against the rigged election, in which President Aleksandr Lukashenka claimed victory with nearly 80 percent of the vote. The brutally suppressed demonstration was followed by a wave of repression against the opposition. On 27 December the KGB burst into the offices of the independent weekly Nasha niva. One of the paper’’s editors, Andrei Dynko, a writer and Belarusian P.E.N. chairman, answered the Czech weekly Respekt’’s questions by e-mail. What was the KGB looking for in your editorial offices? Did they have a search […]

Lukashenko 4.0

Chinese model in a European country   Belarus has changed a lot in 15 years in spite of  (some say: thanks to) the dictatorship. Its economy has grown at twice the rate of neighbouring Ukraine. This is a Chinese, or rather a Singaporean model. Lukashenko is convinced that it is the one best suited to the Belarusian mentality and geopolitical situation.   Not everyone agrees with him. A parallel society has grown up. Rock music, samizdat and discussion clubs are all flourishing.   In order to ride this wave, Lukashenko is ready to commandeer what used to be the opposition’’s […]