Belarus and Ukraine: so near and yet so far

The personalities of the two leaders also appear to echo the physiognomy of the two former USSR countries. These two personalities, both incarnations of post-Soviet authoritarianism, have nonetheless led their countries along completely different roads. This is evident from their respective political and electoral systems, which have little or nothing in common. And if Yushchenko’s “orange revolution” has opened the way to a democracy, albeit a fragile one, Lukashenko’s russophile politics too will not remain unassailable for long.