LUKASHENKO CONCEDES DROP OF BELARUSAN PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR UNION WITH RUSSIA.

President Aleksandr Lukashenko yesterday told Minsk media that public support in Belarus for unification with Russia has plummeted from 90 to 62 percent. Lukashenko charged that the Russian public debate on the union treaty and charter, and Russian media coverage of the issue, are causing support in Belarus to unravel. He again rejected a "public debate" in Belarus as unnecessary and harmful, though conceding its usefulness for Russia. He accused Russian reformers of working "behind Yeltsin’s back" to sabotage unification but predicted that he and Yeltsin will nevertheless push the unification through. (Interfax, May 6)

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