LUKASHENKO CHALLENGED AT HOME.

In Minsk, the opposition Popular Front’s leader Zenon Paznyak and deputy Serhey Naumchik instantly charged in separate statements that Lukashenko had again opened himself to impeachment by contravening the country’s constitutionally sanctioned neutrality and jeopardizing its integration into Europe. But in a more weighty reaction, Supreme Soviet chairman Mecislau Hrib called a news conference to declare his disagreement with the idea of creating an eastern military bloc or of Belarus joining it, particularly since "Belarus would end up on the front line anyway" in such a bloc. (15) Hrib’s reaction adds a foreign policy dimension to the conflict among the two top leaders. Hrib leads a parliamentary challenge to Lukashenko’s abuse of executive authority which has precipitated a constitutional crisis and may lead to the president’s impeachment.

Abkhaz Deputy Prime Minister Murdered