Three political signals from Kyiv's neighbourhood in July 2024

What did the politics of Ukraine and its neighbours look like on 25 July 2024? Three reports from that day and the two days before it gave part of the answer.

On 25 July 2024, a German man sentenced to death in Belarus appeared on television and urged Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko to pardon him. He had been convicted over photographing Belarusian military sites in Ukraine.

Warsaw sets a condition

On 24 July 2024, Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz stated that Poland would block Ukraine's bid to join the European Union unless Kyiv resolved issues linked to the massacre of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists during the Second World War. He said this included finding and burying all victims killed on what is now Ukrainian territory.

Martial law extended

On 23 July 2024, the Ukrainian parliament agreed to extend martial law and nationwide military mobilisation for another 90 days, starting on 12 August.

Taken together, the reports from 23 to 25 July 2024 covered a death sentence handed down in Belarus, a Polish condition attached to Ukraine's EU bid, and the continuation of wartime measures inside Ukraine.