MALADZYECHNA, Belarus (AP) — The half-million Belarusians who can’t find work in their country’s stumbling Soviet-style economy face an array of hard choices: register with the state employment exchange, which will force them to take “public work” for a pittance; pay $250 for failure to register; or risk being jailed for taking part in a wave of protests against the labor law.
Lukashenko this week sharply raised tensions by claiming that Western intelligence agencies were using a “fifth column” inside the country to cause unrest, and he vowed Friday not to let Belarus repeat the fate of neighboring Ukraine.
Minsk city authorities …read more
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
