LUKASHENKO AS EASTERN SLAVIC UNIFIER ?

Based on recentinformation from Minsk, the August 8 Komsomolskaya Pravdaand the August 10-16 Obshchaya gazeta (the latter underthe byline of prestigious analyst Dmitrii Furman) assert thatBelarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko hopes to create a politicalunion between Belarus and Russia and to become president of theunified state. The articles cite indications of Lukashenko’s ambitionto play the role of unifier of eastern Slavic peoples and possiblesteps to make himself eligible for running in future Russian presidentialelections.

Bans on Azerbaijani Parties Protested.