Last week, Belarus officially designated the Euronews website as an “extremist medium,” a bureaucratic label that carries heavy consequences. Behind the dry administrative phrasing lies a blunt admission: the regime in Minsk is afraid of what its citizens might read, watch, or learn.
Euronews is not a radical campaign outlet or a propaganda machine. It is an established news organisation that operates according to professional journalistic standards and reaches millions of viewers across Europe in twelve languages. That, precisely, is what makes it dangerous for Aliaksandr Lukashenka. Not because Euronews lies, but because it tells the truth.
Censorship as a confession of weakness
When a government blocks websites, criminalises journalists, and punishes ordinary users who seek independent information, it inadvertently reveals its own fragility. A regime confident in its legitimacy would not need to shield its population from outside reporting. It could withstand scrutiny. Instead, Minsk prefers to switch off the source.
This is not a Belarusian peculiarity. It is the logic of every autocracy: information is power, and whoever controls the narrative controls the country. That is why Lukashenka resorts to technical blocks the moment free reporting threatens his storyline.
The timing of the ban is no coincidence. Belarus has long ceased to be a neutral observer of Russia's war against Ukraine. It has become a willing enforcer for Moscow, providing territory for Russian troops and adopting Kremlin narratives in its own state media. Blocking Euronews is not just about Belarus itself; it is about preventing any free access to information about a war that has become a costly debacle for the Kremlin. When their own populations learn the real price of the war—in human lives, economic ruin, and international isolation—autocrats grow uncomfortable. So they cut off the source rather than correct their policies.
Minsk is willingly taking on the role of information gatekeeper for Moscow, because both regimes share the same goal: to keep their populations as ignorant as possible about what is actually happening.
A state built on political imprisonment
This decision fits seamlessly into a pattern that has defined Belarus for years. According to the latest UN report, Belarus has the highest number of political prisoners per capita in the world. Anyone who voices public criticism, protests, or supports independent journalism risks imprisonment—often under inhumane conditions, without due process.
The Euronews ban is not a side note; it is another building block in the architecture of a state based on injustice that has systematically dismantled freedom of expression. Meanwhile, repression is spreading across broader society. On 1 July, 28 political prisoners were released as their sentences ended, but families, religious communities, and people meeting privately in public places are increasingly targeted by the authorities. After criminalising independent journalism, Lukashenka is now extending control deep into people's private lives.
If a regime with such a record declares European news media to be “extremist,” that says more about the nature of the regime than about Euronews. It is a desperate attempt to maintain an information bubble that has long since become porous—not least because people in Belarus, despite all the risks, continue to find ways to stay informed.
What this means for Europe
For Germany and the rest of Europe, this news is more than a marginal note. It illustrates what is really at stake in the systemic competition with autocracies: not just territory and weapons, but the question of whether people have access to independent information. Free media are not a luxury item of democratic societies; they are a basic precondition.
It is therefore right that Germany and the EU stand firmly behind newsrooms like Euronews and offer practical support to those affected—whether journalists or ordinary citizens who simply want to stay informed. That includes providing technical means to access blocked content regardless of censorship. Equally important is to address such developments clearly in diplomatic and political exchanges with Belarus.
The ban has drawn sharp criticism across Europe, with many seeing it as a direct assault on press freedom. As EU institutions have voiced support for Euronews, the message is clear: attempts to silence independent media will not go unanswered. The battle for truth is not just about one outlet; it is about the fundamental right of every European to know what is happening in their own neighbourhood.
