Belarus goes to the polls tomorrow, but the President's opponents have a nasty habit of disappearing

He speaks as though the Cold War never ended and makes no effort to conceal his aggressive desire to forge a new Soviet Union. He has in the past praised Hitler's talent for ruling, ridden roughshod over human rights in his country and is suspected of ordering the murders of political opponents who have disappeared without trace. Tomorrow, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, aims to win a referendum that would entitle him to tear up the constitution and ensure his continued reign as Europe's last Stalinist dictator. Mr Lukashenko, his opponents have said, is not merely intent on clearing a constitutional path to run for a limitless number of terms in office, what he wants is a lifetime presidency. The 50-year-old has attempted to deny the allegation, but after a decade of ruling with what he has admitted is "an element of authoritarianism" Mr Lukashenko shows no sign of going quietly. Belarus, a country of 10 million, is now perched at the frontier of the European Union, bordering Lithuania and Poland. But it has remained hermetically sealed against the democratic and economic forces that have changed the face of many of the former Soviet republics. First-time visitors are struck by how the country seems frozen in a Soviet twilight zone where people still speak in whispers and criticism of the authorities is risky and sometimes life-threatening.