Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden, with the view from Europe:
How will Europe help with the catastrophe in Beirut?
You will see Europe mobilizing quite a lot of help. President Macron of France rushed there. That's natural due to the historical links between France and Lebanon, but also the European Commission and other countries are now mobilizing quite substantially. We are nearby. We have an interest in helping them.
Will the upcoming presidential election in Belarus destabilize the leadership or the opposition of President Lukashenko?
Yes and no. It's obvious that the mood has been shifting in the country and there is significant opposition. People are tired of him after 26 years and he has mishandled the COVID thing and X numbers of things, the economy is not performing very well. But he will probably announce that he's won the election, irrespective of the real result. And the interesting question is, what happens thereafter? Will people just go home and say, "it's as usual." Or will we see protests? And how will these protests be handled? So, Minsk is not normally on the radar screen, but next week, Minsk is the place to watch.