The sovereignty of Belarus is in grave danger. For years the Russian regime has been sponsoring the Belarusian regime with billions of dollars in oil and gas. On Dec 13-14 2007, Putin will be meeting with Belarusian dictator in Minsk. The topic of the meeting is secret. However it is believed that the Russian regime may be claiming payment in the form of Belarusian sovereignty. In efforts to prolong its existence by all means Lukashenka regime may sign Constitutional Act forming a union between Russia and Belarus. Opposition leaders vowed to meet Putin in Belarus with wide protests and defend Belarus independence.

Milinkevich one of the opposition leaders running against Lukashenka told the assembly that "there is no democracy" in Belarus, and that Belarusian society is "paralyzed by fear." Milinkevich has already cleared the first hurdle toward registering as a presidential candidate by collecting more than 100,000 signatures of support. He is unlikely to beat the incumbent, Lukashenka, who last year organized a controversial referendum giving him the right to run for an unprecedented third term. But Milinkevich told the AP that Belarusians were ready to take to the streets if the March vote appears to be rigged.

Uladimir Kanaplyou, the speaker of the Chamber of Representatives, lashed out stating "The situation in our country is no worse than in other regions -- it may even be better. Maybe it's because we're not getting down on our knees before the United States? And what if we do get on our knees, what would Europe gain in such a case?"

Belarus is the only European country that is not a member of the Council of Europe, the body that acts as the primary guardian of the European Convention on Human Rights. The country has been barred from membership because of its failure to observe rule of law and its poor record on human rights. Authorities this year enacted a law criminalizing behavior deemed critical of the state. And observers claim the Lukashenka regime continues the practice of "disappearing" journalists, activists, and other critics it finds politically inconvenient.

Chernobyl

The "Chernobyl disaster", or reactor accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is the worst nuclear power plant accident in history and the only instance so far of level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, resulting in a severe nuclear meltdown. On 26 April 1986 at 01:23:40 a.m. reactor number four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant located in the Soviet Union near Pripyat in Ukraine exploded. Further explosions and the resulting fire sent a plume of highly radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area.

The plume drifted over parts of the western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Northern Europe, and eastern North America. Large areas in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were badly contaminated, resulting in the evacuation and resettlement of over 336,000 people. According to official post-Soviet data,[1] about 60% of the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus.

The accident raised concerns about the safety of the Soviet nuclear power industry, slowing its expansion for a number of years, while forcing the Soviet government to become less secretive. The now-independent countries of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus have been burdened with the continuing and substantial decontamination and health care costs of the Chernobyl accident. It is difficult to tally accurately the number of deaths caused by the events at Chernobyl, as the Soviet-era cover-up made it difficult to track down victims. Lists were incomplete, and Soviet authorities later forbade doctors to cite "radiation" on death certificates.

The 2005 report prepared by the Chernobyl Forum, led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and World Health Organization (WHO), attributed 56 direct deaths (47 accident workers, and nine children with thyroid cancer), and estimated that there may be 4,000 extra deaths due to cancer among the approximately 6.6 million most highly exposed.

Although the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and certain limited areas will remain off limits, the majority of affected areas are now considered safe for settlement and economic activity.