Thank you for writing such an accurate appraisal of Belarus. And the "Ten Myths" about Belarus is exactly that: Myths. Belarus is a phenomenal little nation. The people are delightful, full of talents and a hard working ethic, and their is no scarcity of any commodities, and housing and the highways are very nice. There is much foreign investments; i.e. Italians, even some American and many others. My wife's family live in Orsha, and travelling from Minsk to Orsha is just beautiful. I am from the Midwest, originally, of the USA, and it reminds me much of Wisconsin. The land is rich and the people are very lovely and generous. I want to someday make Belarus my second home. And I welcome a new era in USA/ Belarusian Relations. I am not very political, myself. Not hardly here in my own country, either. But, it seems to me President Lukashenko is doing a very nice job in Belarus. The cities are clean, crime is low, and the officials one encounters, be they Passport Control or Militsia or anywhere one needs to speak with a government employee of official, they are extremely polite and very willing to help you. As you can tell, I love Belarus. And each time I visit, knowing I must return to Florida--of which of also love very much--I think of the next time I shall return to Belarus. Fondly.

Thank you for writing such an accurate appraisal of Belarus. And the "Ten Myths" about Belarus is exactly that: Myths. Belarus is a phenomenal little nation. The people are delightful, full of talents and a hard working ethic, and their is no scarcity of any commodities, and housing and the highways are very nice. There is much foreign investments; i.e. Italians, even some American and many others. My wife's family live in Orsha, and travelling from Minsk to Orsha is just beautiful. I am from the Midwest, originally, of the USA, and it reminds me much of Wisconsin. The land is rich and the people are very lovely and generous. I want to someday make Belarus my second home. And I welcome a new era in USA/ Belarusian Relations. I am not very political, myself. Not hardly here in my own country, either. But, it seems to me President Lukashenko is doing a very nice job in Belarus. The cities are clean, crime is low, and the officials one encounters, be they Passport Control or Militsia or anywhere one needs to speak with a government employee of official, they are extremely polite and very willing to help you. As you can tell, I love Belarus. And each time I visit, knowing I must return to Florida--of which of also love very much--I think of the next time I shall return to Belarus. Fondly.

I am an American lawyer, I visited friends in Minsk twice, and loved the visits! The people in Belarus are very polite and hard working. Belarussan State University, and the law library there, are well equipped with intelligent learned professors and curious attentive students. I visited the memorial at Hyteem, and was very sombered at the immense hardships suffered and endured in Belarus during WW II. Minsk truly is "The City of Heroes." The churches in Minsk are alive with active reverent Christians. I visited a Russian Orthodox monastery and am thoroughly impressed with the piety, reverence and devotion of Christians in Belarus. The roads and highways are in very good condition, and the drivers are traffic rule observant. The food is fresh, plentiful, excellent and well prepared. Many of the historic buildings have been painstakingly restored to their former great architecture. I attended a music performance in Minsk, the musicians were masterful, and modest, while the audience was respectful and appreciative. One of the churches in Minsk has a memorial and bell to remember those who were effected by the atomic bombs at the end of WW II: my Father was a decorated American soldier whose Army airborne Distinguished Unit was the first into Hiroshima after the fearful A-bomb was dropped, so I rang that church bell in Minsk and it was a powerful private emotional rememberance moment for me. I visited a cultural musuem of Belarus in the countryside outside of Minsk, and it is very similar to the rural life lived in the countryside farms in America. There are forested areas throughout Belarus, and there is a freshnesses in the air from those woods. I was shown great personal kindnesses when I was in Belarus by many people, from friends and strangers alike, and I will return to visit this wonderful dignified place of good hearted people again.

I'm very sorry to say this, but what a liar wrote this article! It could only be a Russian journalist paid to do this. I'm originally from Belarus. I totally love my home country, but many of the reasons called in the article as "myths" made me and my family leave it and try to find a better life in a foreign country. I was smiling while reading about the average salary of $500. I have a PhD degree. I tought in the biggest University (the abovementioned Belarusian State U.), and my salary was never above $400. Of this amount, you will have left literally nothing after paying for utilities, cell phone, and food. Buying clothes in Belarus? Forget it! The quality is awful and it's all way overpriced. Over several years, I've been buying my clothes on occasional trips to EU countries. An average Belarusian family spends 80-90% of their income just on food. My life was more or less ok only because I lived in the capital of Belarus, Minsk. But go to a smaller city, and you will see all that poverty that people live in. A qualified physician' salary in a smal citiy is about $200. Planting potatoes is what helps them survive there! Dear friends from the foreign countries, it's true that we have beatiful nature and well cared roads in Belarus. But this is just an outside picture you are shown. Inside, the country is all rotten because of the outrageous unprofessionalism of its authorities and corruption, and Mr. Likashenko is the man who desperately needs the things to be like that, since it's the only way for him to keep his power. Amen!

My son is married to a wonderful girl from Belarus and my son has visited there. By all of their accounts, Belarus is much closer to the myths stated here than to the contrary. It's why they're here, not there.

As you can see the opinions are of two kinds, those who's only visited Belarus agree that these are myths and those who live in Belarus or know people who live in Belarus suppose that it's true. I live in Belarus and I agree that it's a beautiful country and we are nice people but it's only the surface. If you look deeper you'll see awful things

November 10, 2009, 14:38, Marina wrote > As you can see the opinions are of two kinds, those who's only visited Belarus agree that these are myths and those who live in Belarus or know people who live in Belarus suppose that it's true. I live in Belarus and I agree that it's a beautiful country and we are nice people but it's only the surface. If you look deeper you'll see awful things I live in the USA and would like to know if someone could advise me on how I could contact the postal service in Belarus. I mailed Christmas packages to Belarus on Dec.1st and they did not arrive I assume they were lost or taken.I need advise on how who to contact sense I do not speak Russian...Thank You.. Colleen

Opposition rallies weren't beaten in 2010 YET, but you cannot close your eyes on what was going on in 2009 and years before that. Constant repressions, jail time and beatings are common in Belarus since 1996. It is a fact, there are witnesses to it et cetera. How can you get a full picture of life in Belarus, if you visiting just for a week seeing your wife's family in Orsha? It is funny, cause all the food you get was bought or prepared on the 1-month savings, special occasion so to say.... EVERYTHING is controlled by the Lukashenko himself or his close allies (ab. 10 persons), no deal over 1 million $ goes unnoticed by his crew.... Corruption, repression of freedom, political parties driven to a complete underground..... Nothing more to say. Shame on RT.

Please, make something like this about Slovak republic. Some people dont know difference between Slovakia and Slovenia and we are shown in bad light in the movie Eurotrip. Thanks, I appreciate your work.