The purpose of this article is to determine the political conditions of the amendments introduced to the Constitution of Ukraine regarding the modification of the form of rule: 1) to establish the motives of political subjects that aimed at introducing amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution; 2) to grasp the specific political situation in which the modification of the form of rule in Ukraine took place. The following thesis has been examined: 1) that it were the presidents Leonid Kuchma (1994-2005) and Viktor Yanukovych (2010-2014) who had particular aspirations to modify the semi-presidential form of rule introduced in 1996 in Ukraine; 2) that introducing amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine regarding the modification of the form of rule was the result of a political compromise made between the government and the opposition during the socio-political protest in 2004 (the so-called Orange Revolution) and the mass anti-government protest in 2014 (Euromaidan).

The subject of the research is the problem of mass migration of the intellectual elite from Belarus. The analysis of the current situation in Belarus shows that a special role in the migration of Belarusian scientists and academic teachers is not played by economic factors, but to a greater extent, by political and social factors. Migration has taken the form of flight from Belarus, which is leading to a huge crisis in Belarusian science, education and society in general. The largest number of Belarusian scientific migrants is in Poland, where programs of assistance to Belarusian scientists and favourable conditions for moving have been created. Highly qualified specialists, leaving to work in other countries, bring significant bene-fits to the host country, at the same time causing huge, irreparable damage to the country they leave. For host countries, the migration of the intellectual elite serves as a tool to increase the country’s competitiveness in the world market.