The west should not hold its breath in expecting real change to emerge from the 2015 presidential election in Belarus

Belarus will hold a presidential election on 11 October, with the incumbent President, Alexander Lukashenko, looking to remain in power more than 20 years after his first election victory in 1994. Yaraslau Kryvoi argues that with serious obstacles limiting the ability of opposition politicians to campaign against Lukashenko, there is little prospect of the elections producing real change. Nevertheless, with the ties between Russia and Belarus weakened by Russia’s economic downturn, there is an opportunity for the EU to pursue closer cooperation with the country.