MIXED SIGNALS FROM MINSK.

General Helge Hansen, Commander of NATO’s Central Front Forces in Europe, said in Minsk on October 26 that Belarus is preparing a detailed plan for cooperation with NATO within the framework of the Partnership for Peace. Hansen had just completed talks with Belarus’s newly appointed defense minister, Leonid Maltseu. At the same time, another defense official quoted in the Belarusian capital reiterated Minsk’s opposition to the planned eastward expansion of NATO and said that Belarus would not like to see structures created that are "new in form but old in substance, like hose of the Cold War." (9) The official, General Yuri Portnov, also repeated an earlier notification that Belarus will not meet its November target date to fulfill its CFE obligations.

Ukrainian Deja Vu: Competing Rallies