OPPOSITION PARTY SAYS BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT PREPARING TO KEEP POWER BY FORCE. According to the United Civic Party (AHP), President Lukashenka's televised address to the KGB leadership on 28 November was "the public presentation of a plan to stay in...power by force," Belapan reported on 4 November. In his address, Lukashenka urged the KGB to spy more efficiently on foreign diplomats in Belarus (see "RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report," 5 December 2000) and promised to take "even tougher" measures to deal with the opposition before the presidential elections. He also warned the KGB about what he called NATO's plans to attack Belarus. "Such conclusions may befit a block hooligan or an extremist group member [but not] a high-ranking statesman," AHP Chairman Anatol Lyabedzka commented. JM

UKRAINIAN POLITICIAN SAYS PRESIDENT SHOULD RESIGN OVER JOURNALIST'S DISAPPEARANCE. Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz has said President Leonid Kuchma should resign in connection with the latter's alleged involvement in the disappearance of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze (see "RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report," 5 December 2000), the "Eastern Economist Daily" reported on 5 December, citing UNIAN. According to Moroz, Kuchma's resignation should be demanded by "the people, public and political organizations, [or] at least the Supreme Council." Ukraine's legislation does not provide for a procedure to impeach the president. Moroz said he is certain of the authenticity of the audio recording he made public to support his claim of Kuchma's complicity in Gongadze's disappearance. Meanwhile, lawmaker Oleksandr Holub told UNIAN that "Moroz's tape" was first offered by 10 ex-servicemen of Ukraine's Security Service to Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko, but the latter refused to publicize it. JM

UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN WARSAW. Anatoliy Zlenko told his Polish counterpart, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, on 4 December that it is more efficient to modernize Ukraine's gas transportation system than to implement Russia's idea of increasing gas supplies to Western Europe by constructing a new gas pipeline circumventing Ukraine, Ukrainian New Channel Television reported. Zlenko also proposed establishing an international consortium to manage Ukrainian gas pipelines. According to Zlenko, if Russia starts the construction of a bypass gas pipeline, Ukraine will demand from the EU, gas transit countries, and gas customers that it be allowed to participate in this project. JM

BULGARIA TO REVAMP VISA REGIME WITH NON-EU COUNTRIES. Bulgaria will introduce visa requirements for citizens of non-EU countries in order to bring its policies into line with those of the union, Foreign Minister Nadezhda Mihailova said on 4 December. The decision follows the 1 December announcement of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council that Bulgaria is to be removed from the lists of countries whose citizens require visas to travel to EU states. Mihailova said citizens of Tunisia and Georgia will need visas to enter Bulgaria as of May, while Russia, Ukraine and Macedonia will need to sign new "re-admission" agreements" with Sofia in order to avoid the imposition of visa requirements. Readmission agreements allow countries to extradite citizens who have entered the country illegally. Mihailova also said visa relations with Yugoslavia will be discussed after the 23 December elections in that country, AP and Reuters reported. MS