About the research This is the sixth edition of our research, through which since 2020 we have been tracking what“being Belarusian” means to society. In previous reports, we examined the internal structure of Belarusian identity: exploring what distinguishes and unites segments of Belarusians oriented toward different national projects 1 , and analyzing the role of politics, language, and cultural consumption. This edition introduces two new lenses: how Belarusians see their place in the world and how different segments are connected through communication networks . How the report is structured The publication consists of five separate sections that can be read in any order. Each section begins with a summary highlighting the key findings and figures. The first section describes the main identity segments, their views, and socio-demographic characteristics. The second shows how Belarusians position themselves on the map of nations, who they consider close and who they consider distant, and why. The third section analyzes the notion of Europeanness: what“being European” means to Belarusians and why they confidently classify some nations as European while excluding others. The fourth section explores the social ties connecting people with different variants of Belarusian identity. The fifth shows what kinds of resources these ties provide access to . What data we rely on In March— April 2026, we surveyed 803 urban Belarusians aged 18 – 64 through an online questionnaire(CAWI) 2 . The quota sample reflects the structure of the urban population by gender, age, city size, region, and education. In addition, we conducted eight in-depth interviews 3 to better understand the ideas and motivations behind respondents’ survey answers. These methods have limitations: the sample does not cover the rural population and is skewed toward active internet users. As a result, the responses obtained are likely somewhat more pro­European and pro-democratic than those of the country in general. At the same time, the share of pro-European responses may be underestimated, as some participants may be reluctant to express views that diverge from the position of the authoritarian authorities . 1 To learn more about the theoretical framework of the study— our understanding of national projects, identity, and segments— see one of our previous reports: Bikanau P., Nesterovich K. Belarusian Identity in 2023. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2023. About the research 2 The raw survey data are available here. 3 The interviews included two representatives from each of the four main segments, with an equal number of women and men; participants ranged in age from 31 to 50. 3