ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the foreign policy manifestations of Belarus' 2020 mass protests. Although at the initial stage the protest movement distanced itself from geopolitics, it thereafter has generated profound foreign policy ramifications for the country, particularly in the aftermath of Russia's war against Ukraine in 2022. Following the protest movement, the grassroots opposition in Belarus emerged as a political force that demonstrated a new foreign policy thinking, showing a strong pro-European, anti-Russian narrative. As a response, Lukashenka engaged with more repressions and relied more heavily on Russia as a regime-protecting strategy. Consequently, Belarus is further integrated into a Russia-centred political-military alliance within such frameworks as the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and may face the danger of potential geopolitical confrontations.
